Pastor Paul Page June 2022

 

1 Samuel 16 16 And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.⁴ And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?⁵ And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.⁷ But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.¹⁰ Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these.¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

The Old Testament helps us and reminds us how God took care of His people and that He will take care of us. Our only requirement for salvation is to accept Jesus as our Savior and trust in His grace. Then the law is in our hearts and we follow it to be obedient, not to earn grace. The Old Testament teaches us, tells us about people from who we can learn.

King David made so many mistakes, but when he realized what he had done, he repented with all his heart and continued to seek God because he knew God would help him. King Saul only repented because he got caught, it wasn’t heartfelt.

Before this passage of scripture God had sent out King Saul and he failed. Saul did not follow God’s will. In choosing not to follow God he lost not only his role as king, but his lineage. Saul gave up his kingdom because he was afraid. He was afraid of the people and did not trust in God.

In verse one God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king. Here are three things we need to know about David.

1. God chose David because David trusted in God.

          We need to have that kind of attitude, we have to trust in God.  We have to trust that whatever is going on in our lives, God      has control. George Mueller reminded us, “God’s will will never lack God’s supply.”

1 Samuel 17:45-46 ⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

2. David had a different heart .

When David did wrong, he felt bad that he had hurt God, not bad because he got caught.

Psalm 51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.¹⁸ Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

3. David was merciful.

We need to love others even when we think they’re not worthy to be loved.  The story of Mephibosheth is in 2 Samuel 9. David looked for descendants of Saul, so that he might show care and kindness. He found Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, who was crippled, and probably would have been a beggar without someone to take care of him. David brought him into his household and treated him as a member of his own family for the rest of his life.

2 Samuel 9 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? ⁷ And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.

                                                                        -Paul Brow, Haven of Rest

 

Pastor Paul Page May 2022

 

hold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1 Peter 2:9 ⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

We’re set aside—not part of this world, different from everyone else. The world doesn’t know us and doesn’t understand our hearts or the wisdom God gives us. The Word of God makes us think differently, it makes us calm. We need to be in the Word of God every day, praying, reading, spending time with Him. If we aren’t, then we don’t look and act any different from the rest of the world, and people can’t see Christ in us. People need to see Christ in us in order to share Him.

 

Paul Brow, Haven of Rest

 

Pastor Paul Page April 2022

Colossians 3:16 ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

We’re supposed to let the Word of Christ dwell in us. He will help us to understand. He will help us to use it to teach, to correct, to build up ourselves and others. We can look at the world around us and have understanding and wisdom from reading God’s Word.

· Are you reading your Bible?

· Are you praying?

· Do you have a good church family?

 

Paul Brow, Haven of Rest

 

 

Pastor Paul Page March 2022

 

2 Chronicles 20:13-22¹³ And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.¹⁴ Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;¹⁵ And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.¹⁶ To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.¹⁷ Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.¹⁹ And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.²⁰ And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.²² And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

 

The king fell down before God and gave Him the battle. God had him get all the musicians and send them out to praise and glorify God, and God killed and scattered the enemy. When we feel that heavy weight, that burden, is when we most need to be praising God. Psalm 100:` Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Paul Brow, Haven of Rest