#17 The Groom Unites With His Bride

by Dr. Stephen  Phinney 

Editorial note: Words in italics are from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). 

“While the king was at his table, My perfume gave forth its fragrance. My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh which lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves. How handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant! Indeed, our couch is luxuriant! The beams of our houses are cedars, our rafters, cypresses” (Song 1:12-17).

In these verses, the conference is carried on between Christ and His spouse, and endearments are mutually exchanged. Believers take a great satisfaction in Christ and in communion with Him. “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious” (1 Peter 2:7, NKJV). In other words, Christ is above anything else in this world. The Bride is clearly communicating that nothing nor anyone is more prized than his or her Groom. This is critical in the process of knowing the heart of the Groom. Total commitment is the key!

The humble reverence believers have for Christ as their Sovereign King (Song 1:12), is in respect to both dignity and dominion. He wears the crown of honor and bears the scepter of power. This King has His royal table spread in the Gospel – made for “all people a feast of fat things” (Isa. 25:6, KJV). The “fat things” have traditionally and biblically been the “cream of the crop” belonging to the Lord. In others words, the 10 percent that God has been taking from the labors of men throughout all the generations is what He will be serving His Bride. This even goes to show the selflessness of the Groom. When God requests the tithe of men, He intends to use this “fat” at the “table of the feast” for His Son’s Bride. This should give us a new and fresh perspective of the purpose of all mankind needing to give their 10 percent of profits. It is not that God the Father wants His portion back; it is for the divine purpose of blessing the Bride with “gifts” from the Father of the Groom. Therefore, the next time you decide to give your tithe, think on this: You are storing up “gifts” for the Bride of Christ on His wedding day.

Table Furnishings of the Feast

Christ sits at His table to welcome His guests and have fellowship with them, while making sure their needs are met. He carves for them, as He did for His disciples (by breaking the five loaves and giving them to His disciples, so they might distribute to the multitude). He dines with His guests and they with Him (Rev. 3:20). While assembled there, He also receives their petitions, as His Word promises He will always be present with His people (Heb. 13:5).

The Aroma at the Table of the Feast

Then believers do Him all the honor they can, and study how to express their esteem of Him and gratitude to Him, as Mary did when she anointed His head with the ointment of the spikenard plant that was very costly, one pound of it worth three hundred pence, and so fragrant that the house was filled with the pleasing odor of it (John 12:3), which story seems as if it were designed to refer to this passage, for Christ was then sitting at table. When good Christians, in any religious duty, especially in the ordinance of the Lord's supper, where the King is pleased, as it were, to sit with us at His own table, have their graces exercised, their hearts broken by repentance, healed by faith, and inflamed with holy love and desires toward Christ, with joyful expectations of the glory to be revealed, then the spikenard sends forth the smell thereof. Christ is pleased to reckon Himself honored by it, and to accept of it as an instance of respect to Him, as it was in the wise men of the east, who paid their homage to the new-born King of the Jews by presenting to Him frankincense and myrrh.

Affections for the Head of the Table

The Song of Solomon 1:13 shows us the strong affection the Bride has for Christ as their beloved, their well-beloved. Christ is not only beloved by all believing souls, but is their well-beloved, their best-beloved, their only beloved; He has that place in their hearts which no rival can be admitted to, the innermost and uppermost place. 

Jesus Christ has great satisfaction in every true believer in His Church. Each believer is friendly in His eyes (Song 1:15): "How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves.” He says this to show believers there is true beauty in holiness, but not in a prideful way, as humility is one main ingredient in spiritual beauty. Christ also takes great pleasure in the good work His grace has brought to the believer’s soul. We, as believers, still have our weaknesses, but He still thinks of us as fair and beautiful – no matter what we think of ourselves or the world thinks of us. He calls true believers – friends (John 15:14).

“How handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant! Indeed, our couch is luxuriant!” (Song 1:16). Having expressed her esteem of her Husband's Person, she next, like a loving spouse, is transported with joy for having disposed of herself so well, applauds the accommodations He had for her pleasure, His bed, His house, His rafters or galleries (Song 1:16-17).

IN SUMMARY:

The Bride and Groom’s marriage is the institution Christ lives and functions within. The Bride needs to take assurance in knowing all that is Christ’s is hers. “All that I have is yours” (Luke 15:31, NKJV). All the Father has is ours, because we are the Bride of the Groom. We cannot make claim to these benefits if we are not married to Him. Our marriage puts us in the position of being restored back to the Faithful Father. We were once lost and now, we are found. Because the Faithful Father has accepted us back into His family, we can enjoy the pleasures of the Father’s House through the marriage of His Son. Special Note: Those who demand their rights display disrespect, like a woman or child attempting to give orders to the head of a home.

Next: Tough Times Will Come

The Groom Unites with His Bride Copyright © 2013 IOM America. Permission to reproduce for educational purposes. Please keep author’s name intact.

Song of Solomon chapter 1, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete), originally written 1706, public domain. 

All Scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, public domain.