Public Affection is God Ordained - Song of Songs 7-8

Song of Songs 8:5 (ESV)
Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?

Public display of love can have mixed reactions.   When you see an elderly couple walking down a sidewalk, hand-in-hand, there is a moving of the spirit within you.  When you see a couple hanging onto each other other, engaged in public, but intimate play, there is a moving of the spirit within you.   Depending on your age, up-bringing and/or values, these scenes can create different emotions.   In the above passage we have onlookers noticing the couple of Song of Songs (Solomon and his bride) coming out of the “wilderness” (an unknown location).  The previous chapter and verses paint the picture that the two have consummated their marriage.   They are now walking out of the “private” into the “public.”   The verses are probably the previously mention (and soon to be mentioned again, in just a few verses) the “daughters of Jerusalem.”   The on-lookers are noticing that the woman, in this love story, is “leaning” on the man, in this love story.  This is a public display of affection (PDA as it was referred to by the older generation).   Here we have the love of one person toward another being expressed.  We all probably have different limits as to what is permissible in public and what is not.  But, a couple of truths here that should be highlighted.

1.  Physical touch is ordained by God as a way to express love and feelings of emotion.  This should not be turned into an evil thought or evil lens. 

2. Those in love will express their love.   You can’t hide love.  It is a real tangible expression of thought, mind, and emotion.   Hiding it is unnatural. 

3.  Public display of love is natural and even though the world makes it become overtly sensual, that is not God’s intent.   

4. There is a time for outward display of love and a time when it probably would be wise to not display love and affection.  

God gives touch, emotion and sexual sensations for the purpose of the lover’s expression.  It has been bastardized by the world.   It should not be.   Physical touch is ordained by God to demonstrate to others that love is connecting a husband and wife.