Covenant Of Hope Ministries: Merab, the Firstborn Daughter of Saul

Good afternoon, welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries. My name is Rev. Laura A. Neff, the Rainbow Minister. The choice for Rainbow has to do with the fact that the rainbow symbolizes a promise made and one that can and will be kept. I made, long ago, a promise to God that I would do all I could to keep that faith within me. We are normally posted on Sundays for sermons and Wednesdays for studies. You can find these posted in the following locations.

Main Site: http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/

Rev. Laura’s Other Sites: Facebook & Twitter &Google+ & Blogspot

Prayer List: We have many on our prayer list. Some wish to remain anonymous, and others only wish to have their first names mentioned. Our prayer list has grown from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.

- Please pray for a colleague of my daughter’s who lost a family member this past week.

- Please pray for a friend Susie Bartholow as she is in hospice. She is in very grave condition with cancer. Hospice care is in her home with her family. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

- Please pray for my family members far away as chaos continues in their lives. The outcomes of so many things have worn them to a frazzle and they are seeking answer in prayers from near and far.

- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings as he was admitted to the hospital with heart issues and more on Friday. May God bring him health and solace once more.

- Please pray for a friend of ours, Lucy, whose liver is failing. She is going to be on medication but may need a transplant. Pray that the first option works and she returns to health.

- Pray for a friend of my brother’s, who is far from home right now. There have been many problems for her right now. It is our hope that she will return and be here to complete her healing and more.

- Pray for our members Theresa and Wayne who had a very rough year last year. May some of their trials and tribulations end in time for our celebration of the birth of Jesus.

- Pray for those near and far who have been suffering in battles that do not have to be. Pray that peace can be found amidst the fear and anger, frustration and more. May hope blossom and bring that peace once more.

- Pray for our friends and our enemies, may they all find that the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, holds the hope and faith everyone seeks.

- Keep hope alive in your prayers no matter the pain or strife we might suffer.

- May God bless every one of us as we continue on.

Yesterday was my son’s birthday.

Today is my birthday.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We thank You for the blessings brought and for those yet to come. We pray that You can remind us always what we should be looking forward to. We bring prayers for those who have been seriously ill. Help those who are working to fight serious illnesses the ability to find solutions. We pray for those lost and those who mourn. We pray for all those who are victims of violence. We pray for patience and courage for those we love and care about, and ourselves as well. We pray for peace to reach out from the heart and be heard, felt, and understood. We pray that Your grace and love would fill the hearts of the many in this world. We pray all this in Your Holy Name through the Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.

Opening Song: Hillsong – Thank You, Lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgxn9DW1ng

Sermon: Good afternoon. Today’s inspiration came as a result of the birth of a son, my son, seventeen years ago yesterday. He was born just prior to my date of birth, which would be today. Well, we’re going to share the ideal of the firstborn. Granted, my son is hardly my first born, however, he is the first to be born anywhere near my husband or my own birthdays. So today we are going to look at the birth of the firstborn and the last born, both male and female. Let us begin here.

I Samuel 14:49 KJV – Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger was Michal.

For the moment we will focus on the firstborn daughter. We will get into the firstborn sons, of which there are many, in a future sermon. In my family there are many children. I am the eldest child, one of six daughters and three sons for my parents. The youngest of the six daughters would no longer be with us here save in spirit. It is difficult, sometimes, to be the eldest. I am always the one most would come to first for advice, whether it is from my siblings, or even the eldest of my three brothers. I have been the shoulder to cry on, the one to just sit and listen, and the one to bring answers, or even opinions when they are asked for.

I am also the first to be looked at for those times when things go wrong. Why is that? Well, the answer is simple. We as the eldest are supposed to be the role models for those younger than we are. This, regardless of the fact that we are always learning, the wisdom from just being alive longer than those siblings would provide them knowledge, understanding, and more in the way life works. This includes the good and the bad. We do so because we want to prevent those who are part of our family the sorrows and more involved in what we grew up with as the firstborn. Now, we’re going to focus on the eldest daughter, Merab, in the two verses that remain. Those can be found further in the scroll of I Samuel here.

I Samuel 18:17-19 KJV – Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel that I should be son-in-law to the king?

But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

I am certain everyone would wonder why this is. Well, David chose the younger over the elder. The younger daughter, Michal had fallen in love with David, as he had done with her. So, Merab was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife. There is nothing mentioned as to how her life with her husband was like. It is only known, according to Scripture, what life was like for Michal and David. The question is this: was Merab able to love her husband as her sister loved David? Again, nothing is known. Why is it that there are those who are the eldest that share no thoughts or whatever in the realm of love as husband and wife? This especially when it comes to a pair of sisters who are, eldest to youngest, turned topsy-turvy.

Look at this, Merab is given to Adriel to wife, and this is after her betrothal to David. In other words, Saul believed that Merab would be better off with Adriel. There is an interesting ideal. Perhaps he saw more love between those two than he saw between Merab and David. Perhaps he realized that Michal loved him with her whole heart and he couldn’t deny that fact.

This shows that Saul thought about the well-being, the happiness, and the love his firstborn daughter as much as the man he truly wanted to be his son-in-law, David. The fact that he saw the way each of his daughters reacted to David and the thought of marriage proved to him that love is the guiding force, and would bring good results. Sometimes it is the unexpected in regard to the eldest, the firstborn that brings better understanding not just to a parent, but to that firstborn themselves. In fact, it would be considered for both male and female. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus brought us.

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)

Closing Song: Doxology: Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBz7vuJ2b1A

~Shalom~

Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister

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Calvin Jennings ~ Elder Facebook & Twitter &Blogster

Covenant of Hope Ministries

Main Site:

http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/

Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries and Poetic-Expressions is not to exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear together as the rainbow in the darkness.

This mission statement speaks of the rainbow in the darkness. Every time I would have a seriously traumatic thing happen in my life I would wake in the middle of the night. When I do I see a rainbow at the end of my bed, or even through the window behind my head. I’ll see that rainbow in a dark room even during the day. It will hover in the shadows and reassure me that God is with me.

Covenant Of Hope Ministries

MESSENGER

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Merab, the Firstborn Daughter of Saul

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