Song of Solomon 5:16

"His mouth is most sweet." She has already spoken of His lips, so this feature may point to something other than words. It seems to point above all to the grace of Jesus — to the expressions of His kindness, His communications, His friendships. The bride has often tasted His grace, so she could say from experience, "His mouth is most sweet." He meets her with grace and kindness, even after failure. That alone is enough to impress her heart forever with the sweetness of her Lord's grace.

Language fails her. She is unable to say all that He is. So she closes the description with, "He is altogether lovely." As if she had said, "All loveliness dwells in Him. All that is desirable is found in Him. Every unnamed beauty belongs to Him. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead and all the graces of manhood. He is lovely in His humiliation, lovely in His exaltation, yes, He is altogether lovely."

"He is altogether lovely." In Christ we have a perfect object, One who is altogether lovely. Here the heart can rest with satisfaction. In Daniel's image the head was of fine gold, but the toes were of iron and clay. Here the Bridegroom's head is like fine gold, and His legs of marble rest on bases of fine gold. In the Beloved there is no deterioration.

Natural beauty can appear in a person whose violence and corruption are most pronounced. We read, "Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him" (2 Samuel 14:25). In the Beloved there was not only the absence of blemishes — He is altogether lovely. However fine a man may be, bring him into the presence of the One who is altogether lovely, and his best qualities feel debased and impure.

But is not the last note of this lovely song the richest and sweetest of all? "My beloved… my friend." Some may say, "What a description this is!" But what a conclusion this is! He Himself is mine… Thrones, crowns, sceptres, kingdoms, glories, blessedness are His, and the believer's in Him. But after all, these are not Himself. What would all these things be worth without the Person of the Beloved?

However solemn and great the failure of the saints, there is indeed love for Christ in their hearts; but this love did not begin with them. "We love Him, because He first loved us." He has made us His friends. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." We prove that we are His friends by obeying His word.

She answers, "He is the chief among ten thousand." Then she goes on to tell, not of the blessings she has received from Him, nor even of His interest in her, but of all His own varied attractions. At last she says, "He is altogether lovely!"

This lovely description is another step in the awakening of love. As the bride unfolds the perfections of the Bridegroom to others, her heart is taken up with Himself and His glories, and is stirred again to its depths. Telling others of the glories and perfections of Christ will most surely rekindle one's own affections for Christ.