To get a feeling for this poetic work, performed as a musical, read it through several times in a modern translation. It was written by King Solomon at about the same time as Ecclesiastes.

The story

A young girl from the town of Shunem is snatched away by some of King Solomon’s men and placed in the royal harem, where she stands out like a lily among thorns. Captivated by her simple beauty, the king sets out to woo her with all the pomp and splendour his throne can muster. She rejects him. She goes on yearning for the shepherd boy she is engaged to. Failing to win her, Solomon releases her; she returns home leaning on her beloved, and at last they are married, never to be parted again.

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily growing in the valleys. Like a lily among thorns, so is my true love among the young women.

Song of Solomon 2:1–2  ·  God’s Word

Read forward, and this study takes the story as a picture of our own situation. There are days when the world system pulls at us with all the beauty it possesses. The pressure is on us to embrace it, and we may feel abandoned by God. Nothing could be further from the truth: it is exactly then that God is laying a deep foundation for our future life. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, His unadulterated love for us and our love for Him are solidified — and we come up out of the wilderness of this present world leaning on our beloved.

Act one  ·  1:1 – 2:7  ·  The first confrontation

• 1:2–4 — made up and wearing their silks and satins, the women of the harem each vie for Solomon’s attention. Oblivious to the commotion, the Shulammite pines for her shepherd.
• 1:5–7 — she admits she is swarthy in appearance yet lovely, and she longs for the one who told her so. Compare “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” — Romans 8:1.
• 1:8 — the captive girl is ridiculed and mocked by the other women, because she refuses to be captivated by the passing pleasures of this world.
• 1:9 – 2:7 — in their first meeting Solomon tries flattery and she is unimpressed; she recalls her shepherd and their days together. When the world puts on its best neon lights and calls to us, we can answer, “Who is like the LORD our God?” (Psalm 113:5).

Act two  ·  2:8 – 3:5  ·  The visit, and the search

2:8–17. Though she is kept in seclusion and jealously guarded, her beloved risks his life to visit her. Even when God allows us to be placed in the middle of the world system and to feel its pressure, He never abandons us — “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

3:1–5. She tells of a recurring dream in which her lover is missing and cannot be found. Dreams express the subconscious: in the deepest part of her being, where love happens, she longs for the one her soul loves. Her actions are controlled by her deep commitment, not by external stimuli. To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is not simply an intellectual acceptance of certain facts about Him; it is a heart commitment, the surrender of our innermost self.

Act three  ·  3:6 – 5:1  ·  The parade of grandeur

3:6–11. The king mounts a royal parade to impress her, contrasting his splendour with her peasantry. Wherever we meet the world — the person or the system — there is the inevitable display of power or wealth. The little lamb that was slain seems small and insignificant next to the great powers of any age.

4:1–7. She has a natural, radiant beauty which Solomon tries to possess by making her proud of it. If Satan cannot bring us to our depths, he will try to bring us to our prideful heights (compare Ezekiel 16:6–15).

4:8 – 5:1. The shepherd is speaking here. His fiancée may have caught Solomon’s eye, but she has captured the shepherd’s heart. This is the poetic expression of the love theme of the Bible — the sinner has stolen God’s heart.

Act four  ·  5:2 – 6:3  ·  The second dream

5:2–8. Her beloved comes to her in a dream; she hesitates, and he is gone.

5:9–16. She describes her shepherd. We have come to know Jesus, and that knowledge is what separates religion from faith. “He is wholly desirable.”

6:1–3. The women ask her, where is your beloved? She answers, in effect, that he is in her heart. The world cannot know Jesus, and we know He has taken up residence in ours.

I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.

Song of Solomon 6:3  ·  God’s Word

Act five  ·  6:4 – 8:14  ·  Love conquers all

6:4 – 7:9. Solomon has changed. He recognises that she is unconquerable, and the villagers of Shunem are calling her home. Ultimately, because of the love of Christ in us and for us, the world cannot prevail.

7:10 – 8:5. Leaning heavily on her beloved, she returns to her village. Her love for the shepherd has matured and grown stronger. God allows us to be put in negative situations so that our faith may be tested and strengthened.

Who is this young woman coming from the wilderness with her arm around her beloved?

Song of Solomon 8:5  ·  God’s Word

8:6–7. These verses define the love between the girl and her beloved, set against the king’s. The world’s love is self-seeking and self-gratifying. God’s kind of love, based on commitment, says: I love you for the sake of you. I want to be for you.

Wear me as a signet ring on your heart, as a ring on your hand. Love is as overpowering as death. Devotion is as unyielding as the grave. Love’s flames are flames of fire, flames that come from the LORD. Raging water cannot extinguish love, and rivers will never wash it away.

Song of Solomon 8:6–7  ·  God’s Word

8:8–14. Her brothers think back to when she was of an age to be courted: would she be a wall to any man who merely played on her emotions, or an open door? She reminds them that she was a wall, and was not moved by the riches and charm of a king. She wants only the committed love of her beloved. We are not to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, but to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

The story in one paragraph

Solomon goes looking for more women for his harem and finds a shepherdess. He brings her to the palace, though she did not want to come, and lavishes her with gifts and perfumes. All the while she keeps saying: you should see my beloved — he is fairer than all the rest. Her answer to every gift is the same. She tells all the daughters of Jerusalem about him. At last he visits the city at night and she runs through the streets looking for him: did you see him? Surely you couldn’t have missed him — he’s my beloved. Finally Solomon gives up and lets her go. And in the last chapter you see her coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved, and the verdict on that love is: fire cannot burn it, and water cannot quench it.

Where this points

The church is betrothed to Christ. The world keeps offering her riches, wealth and perfumes, and the answer is: oh yes — but you should see my Beloved. He is fairer than all the rest. At the end of the Book the Bridegroom comes, and the bride has made herself ready.

One of the names given to Jesus is an affectionate title — Wonderful. It is what you say when you open a surprise gift. It carries the idea of being unsearchable, past finding out: every time you think you know all there is to know, you discover something else, and say it again.