A Model of Loving Care
Notes
Transcript
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. 6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. 8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.
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Song of Solomon 1:9–11 (ESV)
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
Introduction
Come to delightful conversation between the Shulamite and Solomon, still as the shepherd. This runs from chapter 1 verse 9 to chapter 2 verse 2. There are three sections, Loving Care 1:9-11; Loving Devotion 1:12-14 and Loving Fellowship 1:15 to 2:2. We are looking at the first of these today.
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1. Delightful Comparison v9
1. Delightful Comparison v9
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9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
a. My Love
a. My Love
It is a deep, real and effective love. 9 times in the book.
It is a deep, real and effective love. 9 times in the book.
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
2 As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,
13 The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
2 I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.”
4 You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
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b. A Horse
b. A Horse
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
The bridegroom now reveals his opinion of the bride. He finds her strikingly beautiful, graceful and with admirable traits of character. There are probably not many ladies reading this who would appreciate being compared to a horse, let alone a company of them! But in the East, where the beauty of horses is particularly valued, this would be an outstandingly high compliment.
A Life Worth Living and a Lord Worth Loving: Exposition of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon (Solomon: He Says How He Admires Her and Promises Gifts (1:8–11))
The straight Egyptian horses are one of the most important and strongest horse breeds in the world and the most expensive, Egyptian horses are one of the most beautiful horses that exist at all. The shape of his body is a wonderful beauty and symmetry,
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
25 And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
They were high-quality thoroughbreds.
They were very expensive to obtain or maintain.
They were of personal interest to the king.
They were the king’s delight.
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2. Lovely v10
2. Lovely v10
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
Song of Songs 1:8–11. The Beloved’s Response
The word for ‘ornaments’ is used for round ornaments hanging down in front on both sides of a headband, and also interwoven in the braids of hair in the forehead; that for ‘chains’ denotes strings of pearls (or beads or other jewels) as a necklace.
In stark contrast with the description of herself.
5 I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!
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3. Precious Gifts
3. Precious Gifts
11 We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
Heavenly Love: The Song of Songs Simply Explained (2. Promises Added)
However we understand it, the point is that the woman’s limited resources are not going to be a problem—the king himself, along with whoever else he needs to co-opt, has supplied, and will supply, all the jewellery and ornamentation that this woman could ever need.
We turn now to what we see of Christ’s
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4. Delightful Comparison v9
4. Delightful Comparison v9
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
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a. Love
a. Love
Have already seen the the number of times Solomon speaks of his love. It is a deep, real and effective love.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
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b. A Horse
b. A Horse
A picture of that which is the best
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
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5. Lovely
5. Lovely
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
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6. Precious Gifts v11
6. Precious Gifts v11
It is Solomon still speaking
11 We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Predestined
Called
Justified
Glorified
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Gods Choice
Blameless
Adoption
Redemption
Forgiveness
Wisdom and Insight
Mystery of his will
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Conclusion
14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.