Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy Beloved turned Him, That we may seek Him with thee?
The bride replies:--
My Beloved is gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine: He feedeth His flock among the lilies.
Forlorn and desolate as she might appear she still knows herself as the object of His affections, and claims Him as her own. This expression, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine," is similar to that found in the second chapter, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His"; and yet with noteworthy difference. Then her first thought of CHRIST was of her claim upon Him: His claim upon her was secondary. Now she thinks first of His claim; and only afterwards mentions her own. We see a still further development of grace in chap. vii. 10, where the bride, losing sight of her claim altogether, says:--
I am my Beloved's, And His desire is toward me.
No sooner has she uttered these words and acknowledged herself as His rightful possession--a claim which she had practically repudiated when she kept Him barred out--than her Bridegroom Himself appears; and with no upbraiding word, but in tenderest love, tells her how beautiful she is in His eyes, and speaks her praise to the daughters of Jerusalem.
To her He says:--
Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah, [the beautiful city of Samaria,] Comely as Jerusalem, [the glorious city of the great KING,] Terrible [or rather brilliant] as an army with banners. Turn away thine eyes from Me, For they have overcome Me. (See vv. 4-7.)
Then, turning to the daughters of Jerusalem, He exclaims:--
There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And maidens without number. My dove, My perfect one, is but one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her, saying, Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Brilliant as an army with banners?
Thus the section closes with communion fully restored; the bride reinstated and openly acknowledged by the Bridegroom as His own peerless companion and friend. The painful experience through which the bride has passed has been fraught with lasting good, and we have no further indication of interrupted communion, but in the remaining sections find only joy and fruitfulness.