Jim Gallagher

Song of Songs 1:6
“Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept.”

Song of Songs 1:15
“Behold, you are fair, my love. Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.”

The Song of Solomon is a poetic drama. It tells the story of a love relationship between Solomon and a young woman. Within its pages we will find many lessons to apply to our marriage relationship. The first of these is the value of building up one another.

This young woman did not consider herself to be beautiful. Like many women, when she looked in the mirror, she only saw her faults. She saw, because of long days working in the hot sun, she would never fit the mold of what society, at the time, defined as beautiful. Solomon, on the other hand, saw her in an entirely different light. When he looked at her, he only noticed her beauty, and he was careful to let her know it.

There are at least two applications we should draw from this. First, it is important that we do not define beauty by the standards of the culture in which we live. A woman who spends too much time looking at fashion magazines, will no doubt begin to find fault with how she looks. She will be too fat, too skinny, too tall, or too short; all in the same moment. At the same time, it is critical that a man not let his eyes wander to other women. Second, there is great value in speaking encouraging words to one another. Husbands need to build their wives up with kind and loving words, that assure them of their beauty.

Pastor Jim