Song of Solomon 7:4

It is hard to say who speaks the first five verses of this chapter to the bride — the daughters of Jerusalem, or the Bridegroom... In Song 4, when speaking of her qualities, He begins with the head. And in Song 5, where the bride gives a full-length portrait of her Beloved, she also begins with the head. But here it is different: the description begins with the feet and ends with the head. Here the view of her seems to come from earth, as if her walk first attracted the daughters of Jerusalem.

The daughters of Jerusalem describe the bride in language similar to that used by the Bridegroom, only, viewing her from above, he begins his description with her eyes, whereas the daughters, viewing her from earth, speak first of her footsteps and end with the hair of her head.

Formerly her words had borne bright witness to the King, but now she herself is a witness to all the comeliness the King had put upon her. It is the witness of life rather than lips, of ways rather than words. She had been with the Beloved in the garden of spices and she comes forth from His presence with the beauty of the King upon her.

In the past, Israel has been a stiff-necked people. They refused to bow their neck under the yoke of the Lord, but stubbornly chose their own way. What a contrast redeemed Israel will be in the coming age. Her neck will be as a tower of ivory — purity and holiness will characterise her... Ivory is the great tusk of the elephant, and men get it only at the cost of the animal's suffering and even death. The elephant dies so that man may have the ivory. So the neck of ivory would speak of holiness and righteousness — the fruit of Christ's sufferings unto death for us.

The pools always have their face turned upward and so reflect the heavens that are above them. The quiet pools of water would convey the idea of peace and quietness... The believer should be in contrast to the wicked as a quiet, still pool reflecting in its depths the serenity of heaven above. The root meaning of the Hebrew word Heshbon is intelligence. The secret of true peace and true intelligence is to have the eyes turned upward... Bath-rabbim means "daughter of abundance." Whoever keeps his eyes always turned upward to Christ will be rich in peace and spiritual understanding.

The "tower" (watchtower) would speak of vigilance. It "looked toward Damascus." Damascus was the city where Israel's enemy, the Syrians, lived. The Christian should stay alert for those spiritual enemies who invade the land of our possession.

"A tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus" suggests the idea of strength, security, supremacy. The Jews were once persecuted as a people scattered over the earth, and often invaded as a nation, above all by the Syrians. Now they can look out on Syria, and on all the surrounding nations, in tower-like strength.

Force cannot produce true whole-hearted obedience. A person may obey outwardly out of fear, but the heart is never in it. Only the sense of Christ's great love in giving His life a ransom for us will produce whole-hearted obedience.