The Awaited Fragrance: The Garden and the Gospel Text: Song of Solomon 4:16
Introduction: More Than a Love Song
The Song of Solomon is in the canon of Scripture for a host of glorious reasons, and one of the central reasons is to teach us that God is not a prude. He invented romance, He invented fruitfulness, and He invented the fierce, unquenchable desire that a man has for his wife. To treat this book as though it were some kind of embarrassing uncle in the biblical family, to be either ignored or spiritualized into a bland mist, is to do violence to the Word of God. God is not embarrassed by this. We are the ones who get embarrassed, because we are the ones who have dragged this glorious gift through the mud of our sin.
But at the same time, we must never forget what the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians. Every marriage is a picture. Every marriage is a sermon illustration, a living parable of the great mystery, which is Christ and His Church. If that is true of every ordinary marriage, with all our fumbling and failures, how much more is it true of this marriage, the one God Himself placed in the center of His Holy Word? This is not just a love song; it is the Song of Songs. It is the archetype.
This book, then, operates on two levels, and they are not in conflict. It is about a real man and a real woman, Solomon and his bride, and the glories of their marital love. And it is about Christ, the great Solomon, and His bride, the Church. To deny the first is to become a Gnostic, despising the goodness of the created world. To deny the second is to become a secularist, refusing to see how all of creation points to its Creator. We must be biblical Christians, which means we affirm both.
In the passage before us, we come to a pivotal moment. The bridegroom, Solomon, has just spent fifteen verses lavishing praise on his bride. He has described her as a garden, locked up, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. She is his, and his alone. Now, in our text, the bride responds. Her response is one of the most beautiful expressions of yieldedness, desire, and faith in all of Scripture. She hears his praise, she accepts her identity as his garden, and she calls for the winds to blow upon her, so that her fragrance might be released for him. This is the heart of covenantal response. It is the answer of the Church to the love of Christ.
The Text
"Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices flow forth. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!"
(Song of Solomon 4:16 LSB)
The Summoned Winds (v. 16a)
The bride begins with a bold summons:
"Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south;" (Song of Solomon 4:16a)
The bride has accepted her husband's description of her. He called her a garden (v. 12), and now she speaks as the mistress of that garden. But she knows that a garden, left to itself, is static. Spices do not release their fragrance without some agitation. Flowers do not spread their pollen without a breeze. She understands that for her full glory to be revealed, for her purpose to be fulfilled, an outside force is necessary. She needs the wind. In Scripture, wind is a constant symbol of the Spirit of God. The Hebrew word, ruach, can mean wind, breath, or spirit. When Jesus wanted to explain the new birth to Nicodemus, He used the analogy of the wind: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).
The bride is praying for Pentecost. She is asking for the Spirit to move. She is demonstrating a profound theological insight. She knows that her own fruitfulness, her own loveliness, is not something she can manufacture in her own strength. It must be brought out of her by a divine influence.
And notice she calls for both the north and south winds. The north wind in Palestine was often a cold, harsh, and biting wind. The south wind was warm, gentle, and associated with rain and life. What is she asking for? She is asking for everything. She is inviting both the trials and the blessings, the hardships and the comforts. She is saying, "Lord, send whatever it takes. Send the cold winds of trial and discipline that will strengthen my roots, and send the warm winds of blessing and comfort that will cause me to blossom. Whatever the means, my desire is that my life would produce a fragrance that is pleasing to my beloved."
This is the prayer of a mature faith. It is not a prayer for a life of ease. It is a prayer for a life of fruitfulness, and it submits to the sovereign wisdom of the one who sends the wind. The Church, like the bride, must pray for the moving of the Spirit, whether He comes in the gentle zephyr of revival or the biting wind of persecution. For in both, His purpose is the same: to make His garden fragrant.
The Desired Result (v. 16b)
Her prayer for the winds is not aimless; it has a specific and glorious purpose.
"Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices flow forth." (Song of Solomon 4:16b)
The purpose of the wind is the release of the spices. The end goal is a pervasive, unavoidable aroma that glorifies her beloved. The fragrance is the evidence of the life and health within the garden. This is a picture of the fruit of the Spirit in the life of the believer and the Church. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, these are the spices. But they are not meant to remain sealed up inside us. They are meant to "flow forth."
The Christian life is not a private affair. Our faith is meant to have a public aroma. Paul picks up this very imagery when he says, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere" (2 Corinthians 2:14). Your life, your family, your work, your church, it is all meant to be a censer, sending up a sweet smoke that smells of Christ.
But notice the possessive pronoun. She says, "Make my garden breathe out fragrance." She has taken ownership of what her beloved has declared her to be. He called her a garden, and she agrees. This is the essence of faith. Faith is not trying to make yourself into something you are not. Faith is agreeing with what God has already declared you to be in Christ. You are His garden. You are His planting. Now, live like it. Pray for the Spirit to blow upon you, so that the reality of what you are in Christ might become the reality of what you are in practice.
The Ultimate Invitation (v. 16c)
The final lines of the verse reveal the ultimate motivation behind her prayer. It is not for her own self-fulfillment or public reputation. It is entirely for her beloved.
"May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!" (Song of Solomon 4:16c)
This is the glorious surrender of love. She calls for the winds, she desires the fragrance, all for one purpose: that her beloved might come and take pleasure in her. This is the essence of worship. Worship is inviting God to come and enjoy the fruit that He Himself has produced in us. It is the presentation of our sanctification back to Him as a love offering.
Look at the beautiful interplay of the pronouns. First, she calls it "my garden." She is taking responsibility for it. But then, in the very next breath, she invites him into "his garden." She recognizes that she ultimately belongs to him. She is his property, his delight, his inheritance. This is the joyful paradox of the Christian life. We are our own, and yet we are not our own, for we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The garden is hers to steward, but it is his to own and enjoy.
She invites him not just to smell the fragrances, but to "eat its choice fruits." This is a call for the deepest intimacy and communion. It is the bride of Christ saying, "Lord Jesus, come. Come into your Church. Come into my life. Don't stand at a distance. Come and enjoy the fruits of your own grace in me. Let my love, my obedience, my worship, be a feast for you." This is the purpose for which we were made. We were created for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11). Our chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. And here we see that our glorifying of Him becomes the very thing He enjoys.
Conclusion: The Divine Response
This verse is the bride's response, but it does not hang in the air. The very next verse, the first verse of chapter 5, is the bridegroom's answer. He says, "I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk."
He accepts her invitation. He comes. When the Church, in humble faith, offers herself to Christ, He does not refuse. When we pray for the Spirit to blow, for our lives to be a pleasing fragrance to Him, He answers. He comes to commune with His people. He comes to feast on the fruits of righteousness that His own grace has produced in us.
This is the rhythm of the Christian life. He initiates, we respond. He declares His love, we invite His presence. He calls us His garden, and we, by His grace, pray for the winds of the Spirit to make it so. We ask Him to work in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, so that He might receive all the glory.
So the application for us is simple, though profound. First, you must recognize that if you are in Christ, you are His garden. He has walled you off from the wilderness of the world, He has planted good things in you, and He has sealed you for Himself. Second, you must pray for the winds. Do not be afraid of the north wind of trial or the south wind of blessing. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in your life in whatever way He sees fit. And third, you must do it all for Him. The goal of your sanctification is not your own peace of mind, but His pleasure. The purpose of your fruit is not your own reputation, but His feast. Let this be your prayer today: "Awake, O Spirit of God. Blow upon me, your church, your garden. Bring forth a fragrance that pleases the Lord Jesus. And Lord, come. Come into your garden and feast."