The lover now delights in his beloved. The terms used are not ones we would use today, indeed it might be very unwise to use some of them. Nevertheless, it is worth looking at one or two of them. "Your hair is like a flock of goats". The goats of Canaan were usually dark. Now remember that the beloved was dark and the society of the time did not consider dark to be desirable. So the lover finds beauty in some aspects of the beloved that society mocks. We need to be careful not to allow society to mould how we view ourselves, for societies values are often complete nonsense and worthless. And there things about us that other people mock, but that the Lord delights in.
"Your teeth are like sheep". Remember that dentistry wasn't then what it is now! To have good teeth would be a rare blessing.
The lover finds no flaw in her. Society urges us to spot faults in people (and in ourselves). If we are married we should delight in our wives or husbands. The Lord also delights in us. Have we got faults? Yes. Have our wives or husbands got faults? Yes. But God sees us as perfect because of Christ.
The lover continues to delight in his bride. Note the use of the term "sister" in v9. To use brother or sister in the love poetry of the time was quite common and did not indicate anything of an incestuous nature.
"You are a garden locked up". There were many delights in the beloved that had not yet been opened up. We need to realise in a marriage that a mutual self-giving relationship opens up features of each other, it nurtures positive qualities and develops new gifts. People sometimes wonder if they have married the right person. The more important question is "how do we love the person we have married". It is not just about the person you marry, it is about the person that they (and you) will become within the marriage.
And the Lord sees all sorts of hidden potential within us. And we need the Lord to come into our lives to awaken all this hidden potential.
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