"You have ravished my heart!"

Ok, so I’m just gonna be honest about why I’m skipping chapter 3 and jumping to 4.….I just really didn’t get much out of chapter 3. Of course 3:5 is always a verse I love, “Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.” But, I wasn’t able to see how that is fitting into my current study of Song of Solomon. So, if any of you are reading through Song of Solomon and you got something from chapter 3, please feel free to share! (and as always, feel free to share on any chapter!)

So, moving on to chapter 4. I LOVE this chapter! The chapter starts with the Beloved praising the Shulamite. He compares her body to many different things and you can tell, he’s in love with her. She is his delight, his joy is in her, and he is overwhelmed by her. This is how God feels about us! He knows every part of our being and says that it’s perfect. We may look in the mirror and say we aren’t desirable or loveable, but God is saying that He desires us and loves us! Again, we are in a place of having to accept His truth and accept that we really are beautiful.
The Beloved then goes on to say how much one look from the Shulamite undoes him.
Song of Songs 4:9
“You have ravished my heart,
My sister, my spouse;
You have ravished my heart
With one look of your eyes,
With one link of your necklace.
How fair is your love
My sister, my spouse!
How much better than wine is your love,
And the scent of your perfumes
Than all spices!”
Oh my word! His heart is RAVISHED by ONE glance of our eyes!!!! Can we even comprehend this? I have my doubts, but we can try to at least a little bit.
Dictionary.com says this about the word’ ravished’.
“To fill with strong emotion, esp. joy. To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture.”
Enrapture:
“To move to rapture; delight beyond measure.”
So basically, when we glance at God, we fill Him with joy, overwhelm Him with emotion, and delight Him beyond measure! Wow! We, simple human beings, are that loved by the God of the universe!
So, if with one look of our eyes, one glance, we make Him feel like that……what does He feel like when we just gaze upon Him and don’t look away???? I can’t even imagine!
The Beloved has now told her how attractive she is, he has explained how overcome by her he is, and now he goes on to describe her again.
Song of Songs 4:12
“A garden enclosed
Is my sister, my spouse,
A spring shut up,
A fountain sealed.”
He goes on to describe all sorts of wonderful fragrances that are in this garden, his spouse, but I won’t take the time to write it all out. I’m seeing two things here - and I’m sure there are other meanings that could be found here as well, but this is what God is speaking to me tonight.
At first, I thought maybe the Beloved is saying she is an enclosed garden because she belongs only to him. It was his way of saying she is devoted to him and him alone. That’s pretty cool. It’s like there’s this amazing garden that tons of people want to get into, but it is enclosed and only open for one person. It is special for that one person and only that person knows how to truly enjoy it. That’s how we should be for God. We should be totally committed and devoted to Him and Him alone. Yes, He brings along others in our life for us to love (believe me, I dream of getting married someday), but He should still remain our true love. Our romance on earth is a reflection of our romance with God. So, how devoted and how committed to God are you? I don’t think we can truly commit and devote ourselves to other people until we are devoted and committed to God.
As I read these verses again, another thought came to mind. After he finishes comparing her to a garden and describing all the fragrances in the garden, the Shulamite says,
Song of Songs 4:16
“Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant fruits.”
So, maybe the Shulamite had gone back to the way she used to feel. Maybe, after accepting the King’s love for her, she suddenly gave into those doubts and decided there was no way he was going to keep loving her. She went back to her ‘peasant’ mentality. She became an ‘enclosed garden, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.’ The Beloved wanted to open her eyes again to the reality that she was loved by him and that she was beautiful. So, he describes the beauty he has seen in her. She then accepts, again, that she is loved by the King, and so she beckons the wind to come and blow the fragrances to him so that he would come to her.
How many of us have listened to the lies that say we are unlovable…especially the lie that God couldn’t love us? How many of us have gone back to a ‘peasant’ mentality? God still loves you, He is still wooing you, and He is reminding you of the good in you, the things in you that bring Him pleasure and delight.
So, let's get back into the reality that we are loved by the King and we are in His chamber. Begin to worship God and gaze upon Him, let your fragrance rise to Him and enrapture Him.