A Garden Enclosed: A Quiet Retreat

Song of Solomon 4:12-5:1 brings us to the very heart of the book. This is the literary centre of the book which, interestingly, coincides with the apex of Solomon and the Shulamite’s relationship—the consummation of their marriage. She is his garden, she invites him in (4:16) and he accepts (5:1).

As we consider the garden in the Song of Solomon we find two threads of thought. In 2:3 there is a hint towards the garden theme without actually mentioning the word garden. She testifies of how she delights to sit (“dwell” cf. 8:13) in his shade, enjoying him as she would the shade and fruit of an apple tree. In 8:13, the last thing he says to her in this book is to speak of her “dwelling” (cf. 2:3) in a garden—indicating that the delights of their relationship have become more permanent. In 4:12-5:1, however, he describes her personally as a garden. She is not just in a place of delight, she is delight itself—she is the garden, his cultivated possession.

In this message I want to consider the broader picture of the garden theme throughout the Old Testament that typifies the ultimate in blessings and pleasure (Isaiah 58:11; 51:3; Genesis 13:10; Ezekiel 28:13, 31:8ff)—a place of quiet retreat as opposed to the turmoil of the world. In contrast to this quiet retreat that is found both in marriage and, in a spiritual realm, in Christ, the environment of the world is a “waste, a howling wilderness” (Deuteronomy 32:10), the circumstances of life are thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:17) and the heart of the unbeliever is “a troubled sea” (Isaiah 57:20).