1st Lady’s Blog: A Shulamite: The Beloved

Women In The Bible Series: A Shulamite: The Beloved

Lesson Five: A Shulamite: The Beloved
Lesson Four: Wisdom: A Woman Called By This Name | Lesson Three: Zipporah: Married to the Ministry | Lesson Two: Tamar: Overcoming Your Past | Lesson One: Leah: The Unloved

Hello ladies, and welcome to my blog! This year I am going to write a series called Women of the Bible, where I will explore the lives of some of the Bible’s most notable female characters. I believe every woman’s story can be found in God’s Word – and those stories can bring hope and encouragement. I will touch on some serious topics such as rape, suicide and jealousy, along with some lighter ones such as love, righteousness and more. Together, we can discover what the Lord is speaking to His beautiful bride.

Before we begin, I also want to thank you for joining me throughout last year’s series on Church Decorum. If you like what you read, send me comments and let me know – it encourages me to keep writing!

Taking this journey together,

First Lady Vivian Pruitte

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Song of Solomon

She never thought of herself as beautiful. In fact, she was considered the ugly duckling growing up. Her sister was the one everyone loved and wanted to be around, lavishing her with gifts. When her sister cried, others would rush to comfort her because that radiant face could not be tarnished by streaming tears. When she cried, she was told that it made me look even uglier.

“You can’t be sisters!” people would say when they saw them in the streets together. “She is so fair and pretty and you are dark and…”

Ugly. She knew was what they were thinking, but careful not to say.

“Have you finished your chores?” was about the only conversation she ever had with her parents. They did not hold out much hope for her getting married and prepared themselves to support her the rest of their lives.

***

No little girl wants to grow up as the “ugly duckling.” But the label becomes an even greater burden in a time where women could not own property or support themselves. For under these conditions, a girl’s only hope for survival was to marry. Sadly, this was the heartbreak of the Shulamite.

Her sister would be the one other men would court and ask to marry. The Shulamite must have thought to herself, “what a sight I must be in these peasant clothes.” She likely saw no beauty in the darkness of her skin or thickness of her hair. Who would ever find her beautiful? As she grew up, she probably did not even realize how graciously her body had developed.

When Solomon came across her path, he was blown away by her pastoral beauty.  She was so different from the superficial splendor of the princesses he married or the concubines who occupied his time. He loved everything about her – and unabashedly described aspects of her body with great illustration! Tired of the shallow relationships he had with his wives, he must have found it refreshing to admire the Shulamite’s natural beauty.

The Shulamite’s status was elevated from the ugly duckling to one of high esteem. Where once she may have envied other women for their beauty, she was now the envy of all. If only those who thought her ugly could see her now. The unloved has become the beloved. Solomon saw a beauty in her that others had missed. He overlooked the flaws she thought she had and looked deep within. He uncovered the splendor that lied within her and radiated from her countenance. The attraction was so compelling, that he could not wait to be with her.

Solomon typifies the Lord in His love for you. The Lord is able to look beyond your past and your flaws and see the beauty within – a beauty He wants to bring to the surface. Solomon wrote a beautiful song about his beautiful discovery: the Shulamite. The Lord has written the same song for you, demonstrating His love for you. His song tells of how much He anticipates and longs to have a relationship with you. Only the Lord can take you from low esteem to respectability. When others thought you would amount to nothing, the Lord has a way of lifting you to a place where those same people now look up to you. He makes you the beloved just like the Shulamite who became the beloved of Solomon.