The Senses Are Powerful Members of the Body - Song of Songs 7-8

Song of Songs 7:2-4 (ESV Strong's)
Your navel is a rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
which looks toward Damascus.

The Senses Are Powerful Members of the Body

In the 21st century we can’t say much good about Solomon’s descriptions of his lover.   Telling the woman you love her belly is “a heap of wheat” would not conjure a intimate night out.  Telling her that her neck is “an ivory tower” would not help much either.  The point being made in these verses is the Solomon’s love has captured all his senses.  He “sees” her; he eventually will “touch” her;  he will then “taste” her.   The fact that they have an exchange of words and voices means they “hear” each other.   He even talks about her fragrance and “smells” her.   The power of the senses in our lives is unmatched.  God has made us in such a marvelous manner.  In the confines of the marriage relationship these “senses” are powerfully romantic.   These “members” of our body are often tempted by folly to do her bidding, as well, however.  Note what happens when the naive one meets the Woman Folly on the open street.  Notice how she uses the “members of his senses” to seduce him:

Proverbs 7:13-18 (ESV Strong's)
She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
“I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.

This is why Paul warned us about giving our senses over to sin as instruments of unrighteousness:

Romans 6:12-14 (ESV Strong's)
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

When we use our “members” (our senses) as instruments of righteousness we honor God and He bestows blessings on us.  When we present our members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness we fall into the same trap as the naive one in Proverbs 7.   Solomon, in his song to his lover (soon to be wife) is highlighting the power of the senses in the romantic relationship of the two of them.   We ought to use our members in this manner and not as the naive one.

Proverbs 7:21-23 (ESV Strong's)
With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.