I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me.
Three times in this Song the bride says where she stands with the one she loves. This is the last of the three, and it raises a question: why does she now leave out the half that said her beloved was hers?
The third and highest note
Earlier in the book she had said, "My beloved is mine, and I am his" (Song 2:16), and later, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" (Song 6:3). Commentators read these three sayings as a rising scale. At each step self takes a smaller place.
J. T. MawsonWe may begin, and often do, like the bride in the Song. In her new-found joy she sang, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." But if we grow in the knowledge of the Lord, we will soon change our song, as she did. Then we will rejoice with a greater joy to sing, "I am my Beloved's, and His desire is towards me." The first is a half truth, in which self is given a prominent place. The last is the whole truth, in which Christ is all.
The missing clause is not a loss. It has become too obvious to need saying.
William KellyNow she arrives at a settled sense of love — the possession of His love. There is no need to say "He is mine." He has made it perfectly plain, by all these expressions of His affection and by all the beauty that He finds in me.
What produced the change
Just before this, the Bridegroom spends nine verses telling her how He sees her. Her words are not her own reasoning. She is repeating what she has just heard.
Hamilton SmithShe tells others what the Bridegroom is in her sight, but He tells the bride what she is in His sight. In secret He pours into her ear all the delight that she is to Him. He would have her know, not only how beautiful she is in His sight, but how precious she is to His heart.
What "His desire" means
The desire in this line is His own. Older translations read "toward me" instead of "for me." It rests on her even though He knows exactly what she is.
Andrew MillerWhat a happy state — to be able to say, "He knows me thoroughly. He knows what I am in myself, and what I am in Him. Yet even so, He not only loves me; He delights in me." There is nothing beyond this.
The one line holds two things together: whose she is, and how He feels about her.
J. N. DarbyThis is knowing that we belong to Christ, and that His affections rest on us. It is knowing that we are the objects of His own affections and delight. This is the deepest and most perfect joy.
Only grace can reach this note
This line is the top of the Song. Yet the one who says it has stopped thinking about herself.
Andrew MillerThis, we may truly say, is the highest note in the Song of Songs. And yet, we may as truly say, it is the lowest. Now the soul is done with itself, and entirely occupied with Christ. His desire is toward me — He delights in me. So the soul loses sight of itself. Grace has done its perfect work, and the soul is established in grace. So long as a soul is under law, it never reaches this place of confidence, rest, peace, and joy. It never strikes so high a note.
The prophetic setting
Several commentators read the Song as the story of a faithful part of Israel coming to know their Messiah. On that reading, this verse shows how far grace has carried a people who once refused Him.
William KellyCompare verse 10 with Song 2:16 and Song 6:3. You can see the fruit of the godly remnant's growth in the knowledge of Messiah's love. They, as ourselves, as all that are genuine, must begin with "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." It is the true order of grace. He looked on the bride and chose to become hers, as she is His. Now at last she wakes up to the infinite love that she once refused, blindly and proudly, to her own ruin. Now she knows that He is the King, that He loves her in spite of everything, that He is hers and she is His.
What follows it
The verse does not end in quiet contentment. In the next line she is the one asking Him to come out into the fields with her.
The Christian's FriendThe work is done; she understands and accepts association now. "I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me." No longer "He is mine." All is on His side, and self is forgotten. No longer does He have to say, "Rise up, My fair one, come away;" she invites Him. "Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field."
Summary
- Three stages. "My beloved is mine" (2:16), then "I am my beloved's" (6:3), then this. She learns the same love three times over, and self grows smaller at each step.
- His word first. She speaks like this only after He tells her what she is to Him. Her confidence is an echo of His words, not a conclusion she reached alone.
- Desire, not just love. Her heart rests in this: He knows her thoroughly, and He still delights in her.
- Grace, not law. A soul measuring itself by law never reaches this note; only grace brings anyone here.
- Then she moves. He no longer has to call her out — she calls Him, and goes with Him into the fields.