Song 7:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me. Song of Solomon 7 English Standard Version (ESV)

7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
    O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
    the work of a master hand.
² Your navel is a rounded bowl
    that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
    encircled with lilies.
³ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
    which looks toward Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Carmel,
    and your flowing locks are like purple;
    a king is held captive in the tresses.

⁶ How beautiful and pleasant you are,
    O loved one, with all your delights!
⁷ Your stature is like a palm tree,
    and your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸ I say I will climb the palm tree
    and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
    and the scent of your breath like apples,
⁹ and your mouth like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
    gliding over lips and teeth.

¹⁰ I am my beloved's,
    and his desire is for me. 

The Bride Gives Her Love

¹¹ Come, my beloved,
    let us go out into the fields
    and lodge in the villages;
¹² let us go out early to the vineyards
    and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
    and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

This is the third time the bridegroom describes the beauty of his bride. The first description of his bride’s beauty recorded in chapter 4:1-5 was on the wedding night; the beloved praised the beauty of his bride before she yielded her body to him. The second description of her beauty recorded in chapter 6:4-9 after a conflict when the beloved assured the Shulamite that she was just as beautiful to him then as she was on the wedding night. This third description of the Shulamite’s beauty (Song 7:1-5) further assured the maiden of her beauty. 

There are two kinds of love in this world that are most excellent. First, is a mother’s love for her child. No one can deny that a mother’s love is forever, sacrificial, forgiving, and selfless. The second love is marriage love.  Solomon says one of the things too wonderful for him to understand is to way of a man with a maid (Proverbs 30:19). There is a reason why God said it is not good for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Man needs a marriage love that nothing else in this world can provide. God did not make another animal to be Adam’s companion. He did not make a car or something beautiful to be Adam’s companion. God made a woman! We see the Beloved in the song was captivated by the love of the bride and the desire for intimacy (7:6-9a). 

At this juncture, the Shulamite is overwhelmed with love and proudly announces: “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me” (7:10). 

I am my beloved's – “I belong to my Beloved.” It is one of submission. Husbands and wives, in marriages you are no longer two individual people doing his /her own thing and minding his/her own business - YOU BELONG TO EACH OTHER. Sometimes I hear couples proudly saying they let each other be his/her own self – one doesn’t bother or interfere with the other person’s life. It’s no wonder their marriages fail – they don’t need each other. 

“I am my beloved's” is a message to all wives: “Sexual intimacy must not to be understood to be the husband’s pleasure and the wife’s duty.” Sexual intimacy is a love language between a husband and wife. Listen to the warning from Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:3-5: “A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should do the same for her husband. A wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does. Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control.” (Emp, JL). 

We often hear of husbands blaming the wives for refusing sexual intimacy for their extra-marital affairs. They fell into Satan’s temptations. Wives, you can avoid such thing from happening – be your husband’s only lover! 

And his desire is toward me – The Shulamite is very pleased that her husband has eyes only for her and her and desires her. And this is the message for all husbands:  Your wife must be your only lover: “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Proverbs 5:18-19). 

From verse 7:11-13, we see the Shulamite responded to his Beloved’s desire and invited him to the countryside where they shared their time of intimacy. 

In Song of Songs, we see how married couples should respond to each other’s desire – Love and Submission. When you are married, you are no longer just yourself but you have to think in term of two persons – you are two become one. May you always be in love with each other.

Jimmy Lau