What Is Your Beloved More Than Another?

A meditation on Song of Songs 5:8-10

The Questioner

“What is your beloved more than another beloved?^a What makes Jesus more desirable than the other gods and other pleasures this world has to offer? Why would you choose him over another? How is he better? Why do you love him the way you do, with such abandon and passion? What causes you to declare his praises and insist that he is the only way? What has he done for you to win your affections? What makes him stand out from the other gods? How is he different? What is it about him that evokes such strong emotions in you – this lovesickness? How can you love him with this intensity when there is so much pain and hardship in this world and when he has allowed you to endure trials, loss, sickness and sorrow? What can you tell me about him that would cause me to see and understand your love for him?”

The Bride of Christ

“My beloved is radiant^b – his very being is blazing with light, shining like the sun in all its splendor^c. He dwells in unapproachable light^d and wraps himself in light as with a garment^e. He is clothed with splendor and majesty^f, dazzling in beauty, brilliant in his glory. He is glowing like a consuming fire and he is surrounded by brilliant lights^g, colorful rainbows, and flashes of lightning^h. He is stunningly and overwhelmingly beautiful – there is no otherⁱ as beautiful as he is.”

“If you see him, tell him that I am lovesick for him^j. Tell him that he has ruined me for anything less than himself. Tell him that I long for him^k and that I am completely and wholeheartedly his. Tell him that I must have him and that my heart aches for his presence^l. Tell him that I love him, no matter what my circumstances are, no matter what pain or loss I may be experiencing, for without him, I have nothing^m. He is my everything, my all, my portionⁿ, my sufficiency^o. Tell him that I am faint with love^j.”

“For there is no one like him – he is fully God, yet fully man. He is divinely human – the perfect balance and combination of heaven and earth, which will both come together under his leadership at the end of the age^p. He is in his very nature God, yet he made himself nothing and took on the nature of a servant, choosing to take on human form for all eternity in order to have me for his bride^q! There is no one else who is that humble, that selfless, that obedient, nor anyone who has sacrificed as much for the sake of love!”

“Though he is high and lofty, he came down low^r, and because of it, his Father exalted him to the highest place, giving him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord^s. He is outstanding among ten thousand^b, far above all others^t, the most excellent of men^u. He is the fairest, most wonderful man who has ever lived or will ever live. He is the incarnation of all perfection^v – incomparably superior, with no rival whatsoever. He is the greatest of all – King of Kings and Lord of Lords^w. He stands alone. In him, all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form^x. He is the radiance of God’s glory and is seated at the Father’s right hand^y. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End^z.”

a Song of Songs 5:9
b Song of Songs 5:10
c Revelation 1:14-16
d 1 Timothy 6:16
e Psalm 104:2
f Psalm 45:3
g Ezekiel 1:26-28
h Revelation 4:3, 5
i Deuteronomy 4:39
j Song of Songs 5:8
k Psalm 63:1
l Psalm 27:4
m Psalm 16:2
n Psalm 73:26
o 2 Corinthians 12:9
p Ephesians 1:9-10
q Philippians 2:6-8
r Isaiah 57:15
s Philippians 2:9-11
t Psalm 97:9; Ephesians 1:19b-23
u Psalm 45:2
v Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30
w Revelation 19:16
x Colossians 2:9
y Hebrews 1:3
z Revelation 22:13

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