(Text and notes from the Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation, Tyndale 1996)
You are a garden fountain,
a well of fresh water
streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.
- Song of Songs 4:15
Solomon’s bride was as refreshing to him as a fountain. Could your spouse say the same about you? Sometimes the familiarity that comes with marriage also causes us to forget the overwhelming feelings of love and bliss we shared at the beginning. Many marriages could use a course in “refreshing.” Do you refresh your spouse or are you a burden of complaints, sorrows, and problems? Partners in marriage should continually work at refreshing each other by an encouraging word, an unexpected gift, a change of pace, a surprise call or note, or seven the withholding of a discussion of some problem until the proper time. Your spouse needs you to be a haven of refreshment because the rest of the world usually isn’t.
His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
is my lover, my friend.
- Song of Songs 5:16
The girl calls Solomon her “friend.” In a healthy marriage lovers are also good friends. Too often people are driven into marriage by the exciting feelings of love and passion before they take the time to develop a deep friendship. This involves listening, sharing, and showing understanding for the other’s likes and dislikes. Friendship takes time, but it makes a love relationship much deeper and far more satisfying.
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