Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
Clarke also observes interestingly, “The Nazarites let their hair grow, but it was as a token of humiliation; and it is possible that St. Paul had this in view. There were consequently two reasons why the apostle should condemn this practice: – 1. Because it was a sign of humiliation; 2. Because it was womanish.”
He urged the Corinthian Christians to be willing to objectively judge for themselves by a rhetorical question that begs a negative answer. It is not proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered. It was a custom at that time for woman entering into God’s presence veiled. It was a mark of propriety and modesty for the woman to be veiled.
Acts 17:16-34 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians Knowing Your Privilege in Christ “The Making of the Christian (1)” (Ephesians 4:17-24) 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of …
(1) How Amiable Are Thy Tabernacles
Psalm 84 speaks of the blessedness of the man (v4, 5, 12) who dwells with God in His house. It is a meditation that brings great joy and peace to the heart.
(a) God’s House (v 1-4)
1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
God’s house is described as lovely (v1). It satisfies the soul (v2). It is also a place of rest (v3), a place of blessing (v4a) and a place of thanksgiving (v4b).
The Apostle Paul exhorts the man to see the mutual dependence between the man and the woman and warns him not to be puffed up because of the prominence that God places upon him because he was created first. The man is in need of the woman’s help as much as the woman is in need of the man’s help. They are the useful one to the other. This is God’s creative order too.
William MacDonald observed well, “Because of her position of subordination to man, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head. The symbol of authority is the head-covering and here it indicates not her own authority but subjection to the authority of her husband.”
The Apostle Paul reiterates the creation account for our learning that God created the woman out of the rib of Adam as a companion because he was lonely. As such, the emphasis is on the headship of the man in the creative order.
The custom of covering the head signifies one who is in subjection. This is contrary to what a man ought to be as Matthew Poole puts it well, “to uphold the power, pre-eminence, and authority with which God hath invested him.”
God made man to own the headship of His creation – Genesis 1:26-28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Hymns: RHC 251 Thy Word Is Like a Garden 254 Break Thou the Bread of Life, 255 Thy Word Have I Hid In My Heart
Spiritual Preparation for Hard Times (1)
Psalm 119:1-24 (KJV)
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. 3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. 4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. 5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! 6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. 7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. 12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. 13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19 I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. 21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. 22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. 23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. 24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.