"Your cheeks are lovely with plaits of ornaments,/Your neck with strings of jewels" (S.S. 1:10). Here the Beloved appreciates her loveliness in submission to Him (cheeks lovely with plaits of ornaments) and her beauty in obedience to the transforming Spirit (neck with strings of jewels). The expression of this lover of Christ is full of submission followed by obedience. When we submit to the Lord, we will surely obey Him.
"We will make you plaits of gold/With studs of silver" (v. 11). The transforming Spirit and the lover's companions (we) will adorn her with the constitution of the life of God (plaits of gold) by the redeeming work of Christ (studs of silver). God's nature and Christ's redemption are put together by the Spirit and the companions to be her adornment. The Spirit transforms us, but the Spirit needs our companions to be His helpers. If we realize this, we will praise the Lord Spirit that He has given us many companions to be His helpers in transforming us.
"While the king was at his table,/My spikenard gave forth its fragrance" (v. 12). At the table where Christ is feasting with His lover (the king at his table), her love (spikenard) toward Him spreads forth its fragrance (cf. John 12:1-3). In the church life the small groups are often a feast with the Lord as the invisible guest. In the built-up vital groups, the lovers of Christ spontaneously spread their pleasant fragrance toward Christ.
"My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh/That lies at night between my breasts./My beloved is to me a cluster of henna flowers/In the vineyards of En-gedi" (S.S. 1:13-14). In these verses we see that she enjoys Him privately (at night) in His death (a bundle of myrrh) in her embracing with love and faith (breasts—1 Tim. 1:14; 1 Thes. 5:8). Every lover of Christ is full of faith and love and embraces Him with faith and love. Furthermore, she enjoys Him publicly in His resurrection (a cluster of henna flowers) in the churches (vineyards) of Christ as the fountain of redemption (En-gedi—"the fountain of the lamb"). In the churches Christ grows as clusters of henna flowers. In the churches there is also a fountain of redemption. The church is continually watered by the fountain of Christ's redemption. From this we see that a major part of our spiritual life is related to the church life.