Let’s read the Song of Solomon. “Eyes” are very important. You can see from the praises there – they usually start from the “eyes.” The “eyes” must therefore be important. It’s very important that we behold and be transformed into His likeness, not simply change into a mighty brother or a spiritual leader, but we change into His likeness. Beholding is the key. Without beholding, you won’t be able to accomplish much else, because when you don’t turn to Him, your heart is not toward Him. Then you would not see His glory, and you would not experience transformation. When we look at Him, we are not simply looking at Him, but we give Him our attention of love. We have fellowship with Him, and we live to Him. Our spirits and hearts need to turn to Him.
When we turn to someone, we can see that person. Our hearts also need to turn to Him. His gaze is always on us. He asks to see our faces. It’s so wonderful when you think about it. He can see us already, but He still asks us to let Him see our faces. That’s because your face may be turned to another direction; your heart may be turned to other things. Your attention may be drawn by “your father’s house”, “your people”, or other things (ref. Psalm 45). Your attention is about what your spiritual eyes can see, and what your heart pays attention to. That’s why the Lord asks for your attention, “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice.” And then you will give Him your response.
Again, “eyes” are very important. How can you be helped if you don’t turn to Him or acknowledge Him? At the very least, you need to look at Him and listen to Him. How can you get His help if you don’t look at Him or listen to Him? And what should we behold? His glory and beauty.
Song of Solomon 1:15 reads, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.” This is written in the first chapter, indicating the beginning of our pursuit. Beholding is not only important from the beginning, but no matter how long we’ve been pursuing Him, we can still enter more deeply, and our eyes can see more clearly. That’s my own experience.
Let’s read Chapter 4 verse 1, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful!” We really need to listen to Him more, listen to the voice of our Beloved. Too often, we listen to other voices instead, voices of criticism. At work, were you ever praised in such a manner? But the Lord repeats it again and again. Actually, if it was just this one verse, I wouldn’t feel as satisfied. But with verse 7, I can feel so satisfied: “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” It’s so precious that we are a new creation, the great work of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s go back to verse 1: “Your eyes are doves behind your veil.” Again, it talks about “eyes.” I’ll adopt the translation here: the veil can mean hair. The eyes are covered by the hair and are especially given to the Lord Himself. For horses, no matter how fast they can run, if they don’t wear blinkers to keep them from getting distracted, they cannot accomplish their mission. “Your cheeks are…behind your veil” (verse 3). This verse means our mind is set on Him.
Let’s look at verse 9, which talks about “eyes” again. “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.” “One jewel of your necklace” represents our faith. “One glance of your eyes”—What your spiritual eyes see and pay attention to is super important, not only to your spirit, but also to your whole person.
The problem of the “mind” is the problem of our “eyes”. The eyes lead to the problem of our mind. If your eyes are pure, your mind will have fewer problems. So it’s important what we pay attention to, especially in this generation where there is so much information, so many things that pull away our attention. What do you gain from those things? Nothing. On the contrary, they can harm you. It’s not that we can’t think about anything else, but we need to be in harmony with the Lord, letting Him guide us. We have the freedom, but we should get His approval. He won’t restrict us, but He doesn’t want us to waste our time or to suffer.
If you cannot enjoy Him, your heart will not be satisfied, nor have strength, nor be joyous. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh 8:10) If you cannot see the Lord and His glory, and how He loves you, you will not have much strength, nor can your heart be attracted to Him. In this generation, what your spiritual eyes see is very important. The Lord treasures our “eyes.” When we look at Him and give Him our attention of love, we show that we treasure Him, and that we want to connect with Him and develop a deeper relationship with Him. He knows you love Him when you pay attention to Him rather than other things. And this captures His heart.
Let’s read Chapter 6 verse 5: “Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me—Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.” “Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me.” Now we should do what the Lord tells us to do, except for this verse. I believe you won’t misunderstand it. It’s the Lord’s way of expressing how much your attention means to Him. Does He really mean for us to turn away our eyes from Him? Quite the contrary, it shows how important your eyes are–they overwhelm Him. When you turn your eyes to Him, it’s very precious and important, and it gives Him enjoyment. People nowadays style their hair, wear trendy clothes, and do so much to get others’ attention. Isn’t this verse so precious? Shouldn’t we turn to Him? We should do contrary to what the Lord asks here, and that is to pay more attention to Him. This affects His heart. Our eyes captivate His heart. Our eyes make His heart beat faster. We affect the heart of the Infinite One.
Your eyes are very important, and you need to know how to use them, and what to look at. It’s important to look at what He wants us to look at.