Song of Solomon 1:16

In Solomon’s fourth word picture, the woman sums up the beauty of her man, the king: “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green” (verse 16).

The woman has immediately replied to her Beloved, “thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant.” What she uses to express his beauty is his pleasantness. Her king gives her pleasure, which is marked by his pleasing behavior, or appearance. Synonyms for “pleasant” are “agreeable, congenial, delicious, delightful, good, grateful, gratifying, nice, satisfying.” But also, “alluring, attractive, desirable, inviting, tempting; calming, comforting, soothing, affable, amiable, good-natured, gracious, hospitable, kindly, personable; blissful, glad, happy, joyous, elating, exhilarating, intoxicating; ecstatic, euphoric, rapturous.”

She picks one word that describes why her man is “fair” – it is because he is “satisfying” in every way; in his entire body, soul, and spirit. The woman said her man was fair because every part of him satisfies her; his words, his touch, his love, his provision for her, his protection of her, and his fellowship with her. He knows her thoughts, her ways, her needs; and he knows exactly how to supply her needs, and when to supply her needs, and what it takes to supply her needs.

He is ever watching over her; covering her from all that might harm her. And he is ever sensitive to her. He knows her low times; he knows how to lift her spirits. He has studied her and knows her every move. He knows when to speak softly to her and he knows when to exhort her in love to correct her. He leads her and guides her in truth. He never lies to her. He never deceives her in anyway, but is always clear and plain in his actions to her.

There is never one second of any day that her Beloved does not satisfy her in every way.

So it is in the spiritual realm with Christ to His Bride. Christ is pleasant to her. That is, He satisfies her in every way:

1. In His Words, “thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68-69);
2. In His Touch; He heals her spirit in regeneration (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:8); her soul (2 Corinthians 5:17); and her body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20);
3. In His Provision for her (Philippians 4:19);
4. In His Protection of her (Psalms 121:1-6);
5. In His Fellowship with her (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 4:6);
6. In His Power (Philippians 4:13);
7. In His Teaching (John 16:13-15; 1 John 2:20, 27);
8. In His Security (Romans 8:29-39; John 10:29-31);
9. In giving her Revelation, Perception, Understanding of truth in the regeneration process (Romans 8:14-16; John 3:3-8; Galatians 4:1-7);
10. In His Restoration process (Psalms 23:1-6);
11. In His Preserving her unto the end (Romans 8:31);
12. In giving her Power, Love, and a Sound Mind (2 Timothy 1:7);
13. In giving her Discernment, for she has the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:9-16);
14. In giving her a Witness that she is a son of God, with the Spirit of Adoption, not the spirit of bondage to fear (Romans 8:14-16);
15. Giving her Precious Promises whereby she is a partaker of the Divine Nature of God (2 Peter 1:4);
16. Having given her all that pertain to Life and Godliness (2 Peter 1:3);
17. And finally, has brought her to see His Glory (John 17:21-24).

Therefore, the Bride says of her Beloved, “thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant:” Yes, He has satisfied her in every way.

Then the Bride says, “also our bed is green.” Here the Bride makes it very plain; “our bed” has to do with private intimacy with her Beloved. This intimacy is defined by the word she uses, “green.”

Green speaks of life; healthy life; abundant life. God ordained the color green to be the color of life in the plants in His Creation. (Grass is green; plants are green; the leaves of the trees are green.) A plant is healthy when its color is a deep green; its fruit, when healthy and alive, is green until the harvest stage comes.

God also has ordained that the color green is pleasing to the human eye. It is commonly associated with spring, and thus with new life, with hope.

Water and nutrients in the air and soil are what keep the plant healthy. But it is not the water, nor the nutrients of the soil, that make the plant green. No, God placed, inherent in His plants, chlorophyll, which makes the plant green. Also God created a great task for all green plants; photosynthesis, which takes in carbon dioxide and emits oxygen. Most people look to the importance of the fruit-bearing plants. But just as important, or even of greater importance, are God’s oxygen factories for us to continue to live; for humans need oxygen to live.

Therefore, when a husband and wife have a consummation that is alive; it is a gift of God; it is a benefit of a marriage indwelt with the Love of God. Many couples have a consummation process that is sterile and dry, with no praise to God. It is dead, for it is only to satisfy a basic lust that is in all humans.

In the spiritual realm, Christ is “The Life”; and those who make up His Bride, the Church, are possessors of Life, or of Christ. This life makes the relationship green (or full of healthy spiritual life). That which makes it green is the new nature placed in the spirit of the regenerated Child of God. Romans 8:11-16 reveals that when Christ comes to dwell in the regenerated; there is the new creation, the new man, the new nature:

“…which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24b)

When this life in manifested in a person’s life, he confesses Christ as Savior (Romans 10:9-10). His “old man” is crucified; he is no longer a servant of unrighteousness, but a servant of righteousness (Romans 6:4-22). And his fruit is unto holiness (Romans 6:21-22; Galatians 5:22-23). He has a new will, a new desire to serve God (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Love of God is implanted in his spirit (Romans 5:5); which causes him to turn from following the flesh, to begin following the Spirit (Ephesians 5:1-33; 1 John 3:10-24; 4:1-21). He reigns in this life in Christ’s Life (Romans 5:17). He is free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). And he walks in God’s Love, God’s Light; circumspectly; full of the Spirit; praising and thanking God in word and Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and in submission and obedience unto Him (Ephesians 5:1-31; Colossians 3:1-25). He is brought to Oneness in Christ and made to behold His Glory (John 17:21-24).

This new nature is kept healthy by the water, or the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, with a continual washing & cleansing by His Word (Ephesians 5:26). The water is the Holy Spirit; the nutrient is the Word of God applied by the Holy Spirit to Christ’s Bride. This “photosynthesis” process on God’s wife, the Church, keeps her healthy and bearing fruit, the Fruit of the Spirit;  more fruit and much fruit; and this fruit remains (Galatians 5:22-23; John 16:15-16). This fruit is what blesses the entire human race as God’s Love is worked out of the believer in his daily life.

The regenerated Child of Grace is full of Life (Christ); is a possessor of Eternal Life (Christ) (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20); and is indwelt by the Spirit of Adoption. He is daily feeding upon the great and precious promises of God (2 Peter 1:2-4), having been given all that pertains to life and Godliness by God in the regeneration process.

Therefore, the “bed,” the place where He and His Bride have sweet, sweet intimacy in truth; and sweet, sweet fellowship, or communion, in the revelation of His Glory (John 17:21-24); this “bed is green”; or full of life; she has a healthy life in Christ and Christ in her (Galatians 2:20).

Make no mistake; the Bride is not in the dark as to her Beloved’s satisfying her. And the proof is that their bed is green; it is alive, full of abundant life, and bearing precious fruit.