“How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!”
Song of Solomon 7:6
The cry of the bride before her lover is that he would find her pleasing. The bride emerges from the chamber and is flushed with concern that her beauty be complete and that she would be acceptable and lovely to the lover. Here then is a word from Jesus and Paul: worthy. Are we worthy for the assignment of bride? Are we pleasing to Him? Does he take pleasure in us? When he thinks of us does he feel pleased, or does he have wishes still for our relationship to Him?
Think about it this way, there is no substitute for mutual eagerness and mutual excitement for a relationship. Love stories are written and filmed constantly to convey the beauty of true love and the eager anticipation two people feel when they are coming into their union. There is no substitute for this. We can theologize all we want about how salvation has washed us and saved us from death, but we cannot take away what Jesus and Paul say: be counted worthy. Paul prays for people to be worthy. To walk worthy. Jesus says certain ones will be counted worthy. And remember the lesson of Hebrews 3,4 that an entire generation of saved saints were killed off in the wilderness. His feeling toward them was anger for 40 years, he says. We should not discount God’s feelings in this relationship.
Or, do we suppose our feelings are all that matters in this relationship with God? And that he is supposed to always be happy with us no matter what. This is a parent child relationship. This is how a child needs their parent. But this is not bridal relationship. It is not adult maturity. Adults are aware and concerned about how the other person is doing and feeling about the relationship. The adult is keen to their choices effecting the mood of the relationship.
Being pleasing to our betrothed spouse is a beautiful and lovely goal for us. Asking him personally how we can be more pleasing to him, to make him indeed happy to be with us, not obliged to us, is a glorious goal.
Jesus intends to set a bride on the apex of the universe. He will be proud to place her there as the universe of created beings gaze on she whom he is pleased with and they will be pleased as well. Being actually pleasing to Jesus is better than any theological rule God “has” to apply to us. Just as we are pleased to have him in our lives he should be pleased to have us in his.
