1. The shepherd's arrival. - Song 4:1
"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead."
- It is obvious this man could not wait to see his one and only love.
- We understand that it is the shepherd who speaks, because the phrase, "my love," is feminine.
- The phrase, "my love," is the same title given throughout the book to the Shulamite. It means, "my friend, my beloved one, my companion."
2. The shepherd's adoration. - Song 4:2-5
- Though this girl was not perfect, to him, she was! He loved everything about her. He loves her from head to toe.
- He mentions:* Her eyes.
* Her hair.
* Her teeth.
* Her lips.
* Her speech.
* Her temples.
* Her neck.
* Her bosom.- She had no desire to become a queen, but everything said here points to the fact that the shepherd saw her as royalty!
- Notice what he said about her eyes, "...thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks."* The word "locks" refers to her veil. This particular word is used only four times in the Bible. Three are found in the Song of Solomon, one in Isaiah. Each time, it refers to the wearing of a veil. We think of "hair"; the Bible means "a veil."
* The harlot would peer from behind her veil to look for men with her wanton eyes. The shepherd remembers her eyes from behind her veil. They were always trained on him.
* From a previous study, we learned that it meant, plain and simple, she only had eyes for her shepherd...and he knew it! He uses this phrase twice as he addresses the Shulamite:- "Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes." (Song 1:15)
- "Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks..." (Song 4:1)- He said this because of the well-known behavior of the dove. Doves bond for life until one of them dies. He did not have a worry in the world about the eyes of his Shulamite wandering. He trusted her fully even in the presence of Solomon.
- The Shulamite and the shepherd only had eyes for each other.
- The rest, no matter what the subject matter, from her hair to her bosom, was what he noticed about her. He saw her as perfect and all that he truly needed.
Conclusion: As this song unfolds to us, we see more and more the kind of relationship we are to have with our Betrothed, the Lord Jesus. The shepherd saw that the Shulamite only had eyes for him. The questions is, "Do we have eyes only for Jesus?"
There are three enemies we face every day when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. Those enemies are mentioned in 1 John 2:16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Our flesh, our eyes, and our pride always seem to get in the way. Our eyes are not doves' eyes. The world and its allurements are very influential in our lives.
Remember, Eve saw that the fruit was desirable; Achan saw that the gold and clothing were desirable; David saw Bathsheba and lusted after her.
The songwriter said:
If I had all the riches
This world had to give,
All the comfort that it brings,
Never needing anything,
I could search the whole world
Over far and wide
Trying to buy this precious love
That was sent from God above.But it wouldn't be enough;
No, it wouldn't be enough
To buy one splinter of the tree
That Jesus died on;
And I couldn't pay the price
For one single drop of blood
That was shed for my salvation.
Are your eyes dove's eyes for the Lord Jesus?