2 elements of a healthy Marriage

Read Song of Solomon 5.

This chapter highlights two more important elements in maintaining a healthy marriage.   Some changes in the personal references would indicate that no longer are they newlyweds.  If a couple is not careful, they may take each other for granted.  What they used to say and do for each other can feel unnecessary to them.  Other things become more important, transferring time and attentiveness elsewhere.  They grow apart instead of continuing to cling to each other.

1. Her availability to him. (vv.1-9)
Again, she dreamed about him.  In what seems to be a near nightmare, he came to see her but the door was locked.  It was too inconvenient for her to get up, pull something on, and get her feet dirty to let him in.  Then, in a change of mind, she ran through the streets looking for him.  But unlike her dream in chapter three, this time the city watchmen mistook her for a criminal.  Was this dream displaying her guilty feelings?

Wives can busy themselves with the rightful duties of household chores, their own work, taking care of children, talking to friends, etc. that they ignore their most important human relationship.  All energies and time are spent and there is nothing left for her husband when he is available.

If being available to one's spouse is deemed as an inconvenience, some decisive changes are in order and quick.

2. His attractiveness to her. (vv.10-16)
In chapter four, Solomon kept saying she was beautiful and then gave eight specific reasons to support his feelings.  Here, it is the wife who did that for him.  He was handsome to her and she said so.  Beyond his general appearance, she mentioned nine things about him that she liked.

Husbands have feeling also.  A man needs to sense that his wife respects him, values him, and is attracted to him.  Silence is not golden on this subject.  Likewise, this means that a husband must be a man of inward character and attentive to his appearance.