“To me, my darling, you are like
My mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of beads.”
– Song of Songs 1:9-10
In verse 10 the Lord refers to her cheeks, and how they are “lovely with ornaments.” The meaning of the Hebrew word for “ornaments” here is “circlet, plait, turn (of hair or gold),” (Strong, #8448), that is, how we arrange our hair, often with some kind of outward ornamentation. The ASV translates it as “plaits of hair.” The beauty of our face is determined in large part by our cheeks. But hair that is properly arranged can help the appearance of our cheeks. Hence, in this verse we see that the beauty of the seeker is due to her ornamentation of herself, to how she arranges her hair. Some women know how to make their hair beautiful so as to make themselves more attractive. The one who loves the Lord, on the one hand, doesn’t want to be looked at, because she realizes she is black. On the other hand, she knows how to make herself beautiful so that her loveliness will be noticed.
It is common for those who are just beginning to love the Lord to act as if they are more spiritual than they really are, so that others would appreciate them. This is to try to enhance your loveliness with “ornaments.” However, the experienced saints will quickly perceive when a person is just “making ornaments” and realize that it is not, in reality, the result of the Spirit’s work.
Adapted from The Song of Songs: A Divine Romance, pages 49-50.
Tuesday: “A Mare in Pharaoh’s Chariots” (2)