The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
The book opens with a claim, not a scene: this poem outranks every other song, and it is Solomon's. Two questions follow. Why does it stand above the rest, and who are the King and His bride?
The title is not a modest label. In Hebrew it is a way of saying the best song of all — and Solomon's name runs right through the book:
The name "Song of Songs" is an absolute comparison in Hebrew and means roughly the most beautiful song. The first verse already names Solomon as the author. We find this mentioned seven times (chapters 1:1, 5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11, 12), and besides that the title "King" three times (chapters 1:4, 12; 7:6).
Scripture holds many songs. One writer traces this one's pre-eminence back to whose song it is:
But why call this precious little book "The Song of Songs"? Just because it is Solomon's, or rather Christ's, who will in due time be King in Jerusalem, in true Solomon glory. On the same principle Scripture calls Him "King of kings and Lord of lords." Pre-eminence in all things is His. There are many sweet songs in Scripture. Moses, Miriam and her maidens, Deborah, and David all sang sweetly of the Lord's goodness. Scripture says of Solomon himself that "his songs were 1,005." But this one he calls "The Song of Songs." It far surpassed them all. It is the deep melody of hearts filled with holy love, finding their supreme delight in its full and free expression.
Solomon wrote in several forms, and only this one song survived:
Solomon was not only a preacher (Ecclesiastes) and a moral teacher (Proverbs), but a song-writer (the Song of Songs). Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). All have perished except this one. It is called "The Song of Songs" because it stands above the rest… As a picture it points to the Jew of the future. Its moral lesson is all-important for the Christian now. This divine poem is in the form of a dialogue between Solomon, his spouse, and her companions.
The king named in the title points past himself. His name and his wealth both prepare us for someone greater:
Solomon is the writer. His name means peace. Of him it is written, "King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom" (2 Chronicles 9:22). He is only a faint type of our great Prince of peace, who is the altogether lovely One, "the most handsome of the sons of men," whom God has "anointed… with the oil of gladness beyond your companions," and "appointed the heir of all things."
Readers have taken the Song in different directions, and the writers themselves note the disagreement. Some apply it to the church, some to the individual believer:
Many have applied this wonderful book of Scripture to the church, many more to the soul, in relation to the Lord Jesus. No one denies for a moment that all born of God share one principle — love to Him who died for all who enter by faith into the love of God in Christ. His known love creates it, a love that passes knowledge.
The same writer warns against reading the book as a simple love story:
Literalists are apt here, as elsewhere, to deprive the book of a worthy object and divine character. According to one of the ablest recent writers, the book is meant to show humble, constant love winning over the temptations of wealth and royalty! Such an aim might suit the Idylls of Theocritus, or the Eclogues of his Latin imitator Virgil. But it betrays fatal ignorance of Old Testament Scripture. Scripture rises again and again above the immediate historical occasion into a purpose of grace.
Whatever view of the bride is right, this song works on the heart. One writer marks out what it never touches:
There is no question in this book of the purification of the conscience. That question is not touched on. But it speaks of those affections of the heart which cannot be too ardent when the Lord is their object. So the faults that show we have forgotten Him and His grace only stir the heart towards Him. They bring back all that draws us to His Person… Forming our heart in this part of the Christian life is all-important. This is how Christ is truly known. With divine Persons, the one who does not love does not know.
- Supreme — the title is a Hebrew superlative: the song that outranks every other song ever sung.
- Sole — of Solomon's 1,005 songs, only this one survives; it far surpassed them all.
- Solomon's — the king whose name means peace, and who surpassed all kings, is a faint sketch of the true Prince of peace.
- Subject — commentators differ on who the bride is: the church, the believer's own soul, or the Jew of the future. All read the book in relation to the Lord Jesus.
- Soul — the book works on the heart, not the conscience. With divine Persons, the one who does not love does not know.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine.
The Song opens with the bride's voice, not the king's, and she asks for the closest sign of love from someone she never names. Two questions follow: who is speaking, and why does she measure love against wine?
Commentators read the book as a prophetic picture. In it the bride stands for Jerusalem and the faithful of Israel, longing for their Messiah.
It begins with a recognition of the blessedness of Messiah's love. His name, because of the graces in Him, is like ointment poured out. The uncorrupted ones love Him — those, I suppose, who have guarded themselves from idolatry and corruption.
Writers also apply her words to any believer today.
She says "him" without explaining who. That silence is not vagueness — it is the mark of a heart with only one object.
Instead of saying, "Let Messiah kiss me," she says what is more fitting, more becoming. There was only one object. As she was His object, so He was her Object, for this is the point; and she does not need to say who. And indeed is not this its beauty? "Let him." It could not be mistaken. There might be ever so many in the world, but there was only One. And that was the One whom she had so offended — whom she had refused and rejected and despised.
She asks for no gift and no favour. Scripture gives the kiss three meanings, and all three stand behind her words.
In holy Scripture a kiss is the token of reconciliation, the pledge of peace, and the expression of affection... And the father kissed the prodigal son while he was still in his rags. Would such displays of love be too much to ask, or to expect, once he was clean from all his defilement and wearing the best robe? Certainly not! Is it too much, then, for the bride in the Song — for the believer in Jesus — to desire such an expression of the Lord's love? We are sure she desired it, not because she had any doubt that it was there, but because she delighted to see it shown. Love can only be satisfied with love.
She has spoken about Him. Now she speaks to Him, and gives her reason.
The love of Jesus is now preferred to all the joys of earth. Wine is the symbol of the natural delights of men — the joys and luxuries of earth. But what are all these now, even in their most charming form, to the soul that is delighting in the love of Jesus? They have lost their charm for the eye and the heart, and now they would be a weariness and a burden heavy to carry. Jesus Himself is the soul's delight. "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory." (1 Peter 1:8)
She is not comparing love in the abstract. She is comparing love as she feels it — which is why she asks for more of what she already has.
She speaks not so much of the love itself, but of the enjoyment of the love. This is what is "better than wine." Every renewed heart will agree. The love of Christ is always beyond all our thoughts, infinite and unspeakable. Yet it is only as we enjoy it that we enter into it or appreciate it at all... Another thing is equally true. The more we taste of the love of Christ, the more we desire it. Every experience of it produces a deeper longing for a larger measure. So if the bride had not already known something of the Bridegroom's affection, she would never have spoken this passionate desire.
She says "me," not "us." One writer finds the secret of Paul's endurance in that one word.
Trace the devoted life of the Apostle Paul — the persecutions he suffered, the perils he faced, the hardships he endured — and ask what the hidden secret of that life was. We hear him answer, "the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Here was the hidden spring of his life: a heart kept in the assurance and enjoyment of Christ's individual love. There are other loves in this world, but His love alone can satisfy the heart — "Let Him kiss me." For satisfaction of heart His love must be consciously known. This is what the kiss means — "Let Him kiss me." But further, His love must be known as an individual and personal love, "Let Him kiss me."
- Object — She never names Him, and does not need to. Where there is only one Beloved, "him" cannot be mistaken for anyone else.
- Token — The kiss is reconciliation, peace, and affection at once. She does not doubt the love; she wants to see it shown.
- Comparison — Wine stands for the best joys earth can pour out. Set beside His love, they lose their taste.
- Enjoyment — What is "better than wine" is love enjoyed, not just love owned. Every taste makes the appetite grow.
- Personal — "Kiss me." His love must be known as mine, not just ours. That assurance, not effort, is the spring of a devoted life.