Gary Gleans

Just wanted to let you all know that I am currently traveling and do not have regular access to the internet, so I will be taking the next couple of weeks off of my blog.  I will be back the second week of April.  God bless and May we all be faithful to reflect upon the death and resurrection of Christ.  

Organization is an important part of any project and since Solomon is such a wise leader he uses this quality as he prepares to build the temple.  He knows the job that needs to get done and he begins by getting organized and then moving forward.  God’s work should be done with excellence and organization is a key step towards excellence as well as efficiency.  We can see a quick backdrop on the process that Solomon used to build the Temple. SOLOMON SOUGHT PARTNERSHIPS: The first thing that we see Solomon do is reach out to a key partner.  He is aware that he does not have the resources that he needs so he seeks out a partner that will be able to provide what is needed.  This is an important step in this process of preparation.  We should never be under the impression that we need to do things by ourselves.  A wise leader will always reach out to strategic partners. SOLOMON BOUGHT PROVISIONS: Solomon also took care of his partners.  He was ordering lots of wood and the deal w

Teams are important for the success of any organization or country.  Wise leaders recognize that they cannot do everything on their own.  They are very aware that they need a staff around them to help them accomplish their goals.  Solomon was a very wise leader and surrounded himself with competent and loyal men who were able to help Solomon accomplish incredible things.  Solomon enjoyed a great and tranquil reign because of God’s blessings in his life.  These blessings were in a variety of areas. SOLOMON HAD A POWERFUL TEAM: Perhaps one of the greatest demonstrations of Solomon’s wisdom was his ability to delegate responsibilities to a variety of men in a variety of different areas.  Solomon trusted he team and let them do their jobs so that he could concentrate on the things that gave him the greatest level of production.  Besides having a team of leaders who were surrounding him, he had a team of leaders responsible for different geographic locations.  Leaders must realize tha

Wisdom is a wonderful gift of God that He shares with His children.  It is a gift that He loves to give and is pleased when we desire it.  Often times the problem with wisdom is that we all think that we have it.  Every person is wise in his own eyes and thinks that his way and perspective is the best way.  The truth is that God’s way is the best way and true wisdom is found in being able to discern the way that the Lord would have us to go.  It is also important to remember that wisdom is only as good as our dedication to following and obeying what we have discerned to be the path of God.  True wisdom will not only give us the ability to discern what is right but the desire and the discipline to do what is right. SOLOMON DESIRES WISDOM: God appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him to choose whatever he would like.  Solomon recognizes his own limitations and the enormity of the job that has fallen to him as king and simply asks for wisdom to be able to lead the nation with disc

Final words are often the most important words.  David knows that his life is almost over, but before he dies he wants to make sure to leave Solomon with some final words of instruction.  It seems like as people approach the end of their lives that they are given a real clarity to know what is important.  They have learned from their mistakes and they have an ability to look at life from an eternal perspective as opposed to a temporal one.  David calls Solomon to listen to his instructions.  We will do well if we are faithful to instruct the generation that follows us as well as listen to the generation that precedes us. DAVID CHALLENGES SOLOMON TO BE FAITHFUL: David knows that being faithful to the Lord and the Law is really the key to a life well lived.  David has many regrets for this failures but he also has many victories for which to be thankful.  He comes to the end of his life and finishes well by instructing his son to be a godly man.  David also reminds Solomon of some

Decisiveness and clear communication are very important qualities for leaders to develop.  A potential civil war breaks out because David has not clearly communicated who will be his successor.  David is old and his health is failing so everyone knows that there will soon be a transition in leadership, but neither the family nor the public in general knows who that king will be.  Apparently David has communicated this to a small group of people that are closest to him, but for some reason, he has not made a public announcement.  Whether this is due to negligence, a reluctance to recognize the importance of doing this or a fear of causing disappointment; David’s lack of clear and decisive communication causes a serious problem.  All leaders must have a clear plan of succession in place so that transitions will go smoothly and the new leader will have a greater chance of succeeding.  ADONIJAH PRESUMES HE WILL BE KING:  Adonijah is the next oldest son after Absalom and so he presume

It is a terrible thing to be the object of the anger of the Lord.  God had chosen the nation of Israel to be a holy nation that worshiped Him and a nation that would bless all the other nations of the world with the knowledge of God.  Instead Israel became a self-centered, idolatrous, complaining and rebellious people that brought much disgrace to the Lord.  Because of this sinfulness God punishes the people by allowing David to be tempted to sin by numbering the people and bringing the wrath of God down upon the nation.  Leadership is not an easy thing as God deals with His people through the leaders He has chosen.  David’s sin brought much pain to the entire nation, but it is important to remember that the entire nation was also guilty before the Lord.  As leader David had a greater responsibility and shoulders the blame for what happens here; but the nation as a whole had been sinful before the Lord.  It is important for us to remember that we too have been blessed by God for the

The secret of success is something that many men seek to know and understand.  We all want to experience success at some level yet we often fall short of our goals in this area.  David was one of Israel’s most successful kings.  He had many military conquests, overcame tremendous opposition and even though he sinned greatly; he never abandoned the worship of God to run after idols.  David amassed great wealth for the nation and established security that would allow his successor to enjoy the peace that eluded David in his reign.  The nation of Israel was in far better shape when David died than it was when he assumed the throne.  It would be hard to argue against affirming that David was the greatest king in Israel’s history.  How and why was David so successful?  I believe that we find at least two reasons for his success in this chapter. DAVID WAS DEPENDENT UPON THE LORD: David never became proud in his own accomplishments, but he always recognized that his success was dependen

David has not had an easy life by any stretch of the imagination, yet his life has been uniquely blessed by God.  David takes the time to look back over the blessings of God and he records this song of praise to the Lord as a result of this reflection.  Too often we spend all of our time looking at what we want but do not have instead of being thankful for the many blessings of the Lord that we already have.  God is pleased by the praise of His people and we certainly have many motives to praise Him.  We simply need to stop with our wanting and start with our worshiping.  It is an important thing to stop and reflect on the goodness of the Lord and then praise Him for the amazing things that He has done and for the amazing person that He is. GOD COMES TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLING: As we have seen, David has been in distress for almost his entire life.  He has been chased all over the country by his former King.  He has had endless war with the nations surrounding him.  As if that were

Difficulties seemed to follow the reign of David one right on top of another.  It seems like one problem would be resolved and then another one would just pop up in its place.  In many ways this is the reality that all of us face because we live in a sin cursed world.  However, David’s experience was also unique in many ways because of the discipline that he was experiencing because of his sin with Bathsheba.  As discouraging as this must have been, David never turns from God or blames God for the hardships of his life.  He honors and worships God and continues to seek Him.  Difficulties in our lives should never be allowed to build up bitterness in our hearts towards God.  We must continue to trust Him and serve Him as long as He gives us life. DAVID SEEKS GOD IN THE FACE OF FAMINE: Israel was struck with a famine for three straight years.  This was not part of the punishment that God had told David He would bring on Israel, so David seeks God to find out why his famine is persi

Loyalty is a very hard quality to find.  David has several people that have been loyal to him, but he just cannot seem to keep the nation together.  He has just returned to Jerusalem after the rebellion of Absalom and now Sheba sets out to start another division in the nation.  This is part of God’s punishment of David that war will not pass from his house, but it sure must have gotten hard for David to live under this type of constant pressure and division.  The price of sin is very steep. SHEBA DIVIDES THE KINGDOM: Israel had been complaining that they were not called to celebrate David’s return.  This as soon as Sheba stands up to lead a rebellion against David; Israel is quick to follow.  Judah was faithful to David, but Israel has been wishy washy from almost the start.  Once again David finds himself with a divided kingdom.  He decides to send his new general out to take Sheba out so he tells Amasa to go out and recruit an army from Judah.  However, when he delays David sen

Relationships are vital to our lives but they can be very fragile.  In order for relationships to work there has to be a willingness to confront as well as forgive one another.  The rebellion of Absalom is over, but there are still a lot of broken relationships that must be fixed.  All of the people involved must decide if they are going to be bitter and seed revenge or if they are going to be understanding and try to reunite the country.  Humility is vital to the success of any relationship.  Those who were wrong must be humble enough to admit it and seek forgiveness.  Those who were right must be humble enough to graciously forgive instead of seeking retribution.  Civil war has broken many relationships, but through humility on both sides those relationships can be fixed.  God gave us the best example of restoring relationships through Christ.  We would do well to follow this example. REBUKE: David has won the war, but he is heartbroken over the death of his son.  Instead of ce

Civil war is a terrible thing.  The nation of Israel is divided with part of the country supporting David and the other part of the country supporting his son Absalom.  This is not how any king would like for his reign to be, but this is all a price that David is paying due to his disobedience to the Lord in his sin with Bathsheba.  David has not only lost the respect of his son due to his sin and passivity; he has also lost the respect of many of the people in the nation.  People look for character in their leaders and when they cannot find it, they begin to look for new leaders.  This is a tragic day in the history of the nation, and one that should always be remembered as an illustration of the consequences of sin. DAVID DEPLOYS HIS ARMY: David has mustered the troops and had time to organize his army and set up camp.  His men are fed and rested while Absalom’s men are tired from chasing David.  The troops are divided into three units so that they can attack in three different

It is a comfort to see the protecting hand of God at work in David’s life, even while he is being disciplined.  Much of what David was going through was simply part of the discipline that God had given to David because of his sin with Bathsheba.  However, it is very clear that God is still protecting David from Absalom and any other enemies he might face.  It is nice to know that even when God must chastise us because of our sin; He is still gracious, loving, merciful and all powerful to be able to protect us from any harm that might come our way that is beyond His plan for our discipline.  Even in the midst of pain, hardship or discipline we can trust God. GOD CONFUSES THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL: Ahithophel had been a brilliant counselor in matters of war for David and now for Absalom.  David knew this, so he asked for Hushai to stay behind and try to confuse Ahithophel’s counsel as well as keep David informed of what Absalom was planning.  The strategy worked.  Ahithophel tells Ab

These are very difficult days in David’s life.  He is on the run from his own son, and there are many people around him who were being both dishonest and disloyal.  However, David must have been constantly reminding himself that he had brought these trials upon himself because of his adultery and murder.  In some ways that must have made this trial even harder; it is easier to suffer for doing what it right than it is to suffer knowing that we were wrong and have brought this suffering upon ourselves.  David must have been on the verge of depression.  It is important to remember this picture of David any time we are tempted to sin.  The pleasures that sin promise are short lived; this picture of David is a much more accurate portrait of the result of sin. DAVID IS DECEIVED  Ziba is the caretaker of Mephibosheth and comes out to meet David with gifts of animals to help with David’s flight along with food and drink for David and his men.  This was a very generous gift that was very

The soap opera of David’s family continues.  If there were ever a picture of a dysfunctional family, David’s family would be the perfect illustration.  However, it is important to remember that all of this is happening as a part of David’s discipline over his sin with Bathsheba.  It is also a great demonstration of the price of passivity as a parent.  Both Absalom and David are brilliant men and had mastered the art of winning and influencing people.  It is interesting to get a look into their methods and see their strategies play out in this chapter.  It is also interesting to see the different levels of loyalty that there were within David’s followers.  There were some people who just followed wherever they thought the power was at the moment but they had no loyalty.  Then there were those who simply said that they would follow David no matter if he were king or not.  It is important to realize that every group has both of these types of followers.  Those who follow where ever the