“I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.”
– Song of Solomon 7:10
What a great picture of a wife’s security in her husband’s love. Let me read it again. I am my beloved’s. We’ve prayed according to this in Song of Solomon already, the picture of belonging. She’s saying I belong to my beloved. He cares for me and he is for me. He is with me and he protects me. My husband provides for me and he guards me. I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me. He doesn’t just guard, protect, help me, serve me because he has to. My husband desires me. He wants me.
Song of Solomon 7:10 Sees the Beauty of God’s Design
Do you see the beauty of God’s design for marriage there, that a wife would feel wanted, deeply wanted by her husband? And not just wanted. A kind of want that leads to him providing for her, him serving her, him caring for her, him protecting her.
Oh, this is God’s good design for marriage, and it’s intended to be a picture of the gospel, right? This is what I love about the book of Song of Solomon. It is a physical picture of the enjoyment of marriage and a husband and wife with each other that points us to a greater picture, the picture that God’s designed from the very beginning of creation for marriage to show, get this. For everyone who’s put your faith in Jesus, you’re a part of the bride of Christ. He desires you. Jesus desires you so much so that he will protect you. He will provide for you and serves you. He leads you and guides you. And he does all these things for you. Why? Not because he has to. Because he wants to. He desires you.
Song of Solomon 7:10 Leads Us to Pray for Afghanistan
Oh, just receive that. Whether you’re married or single, receive that if you have trusted in Jesus and you’re part of his bride. And then, if you’re married, reflect that in your marriage. Even as we pray today and make the connection clear, you’ll see it as we pray for the people of Afghanistan, specifically the unreached there.
God, we praise you for your good design for marriage and for this picture we see in Song of Solomon 7:10 of desire and belonging and protection and just all that you’ve designed for a wife to feel in the arms of her husband, in the security of a relationship with her husband. God, we pray for that in every one of our marriages. We pray for that in marriages around us. God, we pray for this picture of desire and commitment and love in a way that reflects the gospel. And God, as we think about that gospel, we about 38 million people in Afghanistan.
Song of Solomon 7:10 Reminds Us that 99% of People in Afghanistan Do Not Know Jesus
Well over 99% of people in Afghanistan have little to no knowledge of the love of Jesus for his bride. 38 million people in Afghanistan, God, who we know, 2 Peter 3:9 says you love. Who we know, John 3:16 and 2 Peter 3:9 say you love them.
You love the whole world. You desire their salvation. So, God, we pray for the spread of your love among the people of Afghanistan, that they might be welcomed into this relationship with you, to this love relationship with you. Please, we plead on behalf of 38 million people in Afghanistan who are unreached right now, and we pray that you would send workers, messengers of your love to them.
God, send multitudes more laborers, and workers to spread the good news of your grace and your love and your mercy and your desire for people all across Afghanistan. God, we pray all of this, for marriages, our marriages, marriages around us. We pray all of this, Song of Solomon 7:10, with a view toward the world knowing your love for us, your love for them, specifically the unreached in Afghanistan. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
