Focus: Altogether Lovely

Text: Song of Sol.5:16

"His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is ALTOGETHER LOVELY. This is my BELOVED, and this is my FRIEND, O daughters of Jerusalem."

The bride-to-be is full of praise for her groom-to-be. They're deeply in love with each other. They're totally committed to each other. This is the story of romantic love, fervent affection, and deep companionship.

She's telling the female folk of Jerusalem about her lover and friend. She is heaping praise on him in the presence of everyone who cares to know.

Read all of chapter 5 and catch the fire of romantic love. In verse 2, she says, "I sleep, but my heart waketh…" In verse 6, "My soul failed when he spake…" In verse 8, she meets the daughters of Jerusalem, and says to them, "I charge you… if ye find my beloved… tell him, that I am sick of love."

Her heart beats for him. Her soul yearns for his love. In her heart love burns like fire. In verse 10, she says, "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand," and in the following verses, she notices and admires individual parts of body - his nice head, bushy locks, charming eyes, his goodly cheeks, his lovely lips, soft hands, flat stomach, fine legs, and well-shaped mouth. Everything about him turns her on. She adores him and worships even the ground he walks on. Her life is made, having him. With him in her life, life is fun and worth living.

She then ends the chapter with these words: "His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."

Our Church Fathers saw in the Song of Solomon the picture of the love that exists between Christ and the Church, and following this line of thought, we could readily see the Church publicly acknowledging Christ as "altogether lovely." Christ is our object of deep affection, our sweet Savior and delightful Lord, our beauty and strength.

He is pure and perfect in every way. His words are pure and true, pleasant and perfect, gracious and powerful. We wonder at His impeccable life and charming character.

His love is different from the love of a young man who wrote a love-note to his girlfriend. He started by saying, "Sweetheart, if this world was as hot as the Sahara desert, I would crawl on my knees through the burning sand to come to you. If the world would be like the Atlantic Ocean, I would swim through the shark infested waters to come to you. I would fight the fiercest dragon to be by your side," but ended it by saying, "I will see you on Thursday if it does not rain." No rain can stop Christ from coming to be by your side. The cross is an infallible proof of the degree or extent of His love for us. He means every word He says and says every word He means. If need be, He'll crawl, swim and fight for love's sake, and He won't be stopped by any rain. He won't mind coming to us drenched in the rain or beaten by the sun. All He does is for love.

Love makes the greatest sacrifice. Our very soul is captured and captivated by His love. Indeed we love Him because He first loved us. Just imagine the beauty of His holiness, the purity of His life, the sweetness of His name, and the charm of His character and personality! May we worship forever at the feet of Him who is altogether lovely - the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter