Gary Gleans

When we were kids we had a little limerick that we would say: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  It is one of those sayings that should be filed under the “wishful thinking” category.  As much as we may want that to be true, the reality is that we are very often hurt greatly by the words that other say to us or about us.  The damage that can be caused with words, both spoken and written is often greater than those caused by a physical attack.  We can put casts, pins and plates on broken bones and they will heal up nicely; but our broken hearts from hateful words are very hard to fix.  David was the victim of the hateful and false words that were spoken by evil men against him.  He gives us hope and good advice when we are attacked by hurtful words because we can listen to the wonderful words that come from God.  We must choose carefully what words we will hear and believe. THE WORDS OF THE WICKED HURT: There are ...

There is a clear contrast between the just and the unjust.  There is not only a contrast between their actions but also between God’s treatment of them.  The wicked may flourish for a time in their oppression of the godly, just as the godly may suffer under the affliction on the wicked.  However, this is a very temporary situation.  Even though it may seem that God is not aware of this situation or that He is powerless to change it; that is a false perception.  The truth is that God knows exactly what is going on, not only in deeds, but also in thoughts and motives of the heart.  He will step in and set things straight according to His perfect timing. GOD IS A REFUGE FOR THE RIGHTEOUS: When the righteous are attacked by the unrighteous, they are not without hope.  They can find refuge and strength in the Lord.  God gives them the opportunity to trust Him.  They may be tested and tried in their faith, but they will find hope and help in t...

Things are not always as they seem to us.  We have a human perspective on the events of the world so we observe and interpret them in a very limited and incomplete way.  God has a divine perspective that allows Him to see both the past and the future in their entirety so His actions or lack of actions in the present are based upon His eternal perspective.  There will be times when we think that God should act and He does not.  There will be times when God acts swiftly when we would have waited with patience.  No matter what the case or the situation might be, we must always remember that God is right.  He has information that we do not have and His understanding is always perfect.  We must learn to trust His decisions and His timing because we know that He will always do what is best. THE WICKED RELAX WHEN GOD’S JUDGMENT DELAYS: The wicked get comfortable in their sin because the judgment of the Lord is delayed in their lives.  They think tha...

Gratitude is a simple enough concept that we strive to teach our children from a very young age.  We want to protect them from a sense of entitlement where they transmit the idea that they deserve or are owed the blessings they receive.  Unfortunately, we often forget those lessons when it comes to our own personal walk with the Lord.  We are very quick to make requests of the Lord but we are often very remiss in thanking Him for the blessings He sends.  All that He gives us is because of His grace.  We are not entitled to His blessings and we do not deserve the numerous provisions He gives each and every day.  Our hearts should be full of gratitude to the Lord and our mouths should be full of praise for His gracious gifts. GOD REMOVES THE NATIONS THAT OPPOSE: There are many nations that rise up in arrogance against the Lord and His people.  The refuse to recognize the Lord’s sovereignty and they stand against God’s authority.  Instead of wor...

Awesome is one of the most overused words in our vocabulary today.  We hear this word used to describe insignificant events or objects in phrases like: “those french fries were awesome.”  I think we should reserve that word for those jaw dropping, breath taking, inspirational moments like when we walk up to the rim of the Grand Canyon or hold our child for the first time and even more accurately, when we consider the majesty of God.  In this Psalm David stands in awe of God and the works of His hands.  In these moments when we recognize God’s power we should do as David does and praise Him.  He truly is awesome and our recognition of His majesty should cause two reactions in our lives. WE MUST HERALD HIS GREATNESS: When we come to grips with and recognize the glory of God we must open our mouths in praise of His greatness and fall on our knees in worship.  There are so many parts of His creation that cause us to shake our heads in wonder.  The num...

It is easy to fool others.  It is possible to fool ourselves.  It is impossible to fool God.  David finds himself in a fight for his life where he is being falsely accused by a man name Cush who was from the tribe of Benjamin.  Saul was also from this tribe, so it is most likely that these false accusations were fabricated out of jealousy for David’s popularity and the fact that Samuel had anointed him as king.  Saul and his armies were dedicated to the destruction of David, and these false accusations were more than likely some of the fuel that fed this campaign.  Even though David has proven his loyalty to Saul over and over again; he finds himself running for his life in fear of destruction at the hands of his enemies.  David calls out in this passage for God to treat him and his enemies with justice.  Cush may have been able to convince Saul and the armies of Israel that David was disloyal and dishonest but God was not fooled so David asks Go...

Sometimes things “pile up” in our lives.  Bad news is followed by more bad news and things can go from bad to worse.  The book of Job is a clear example of this and in this Psalm we see David in a very difficult situation.  David seems to be facing three problems in this Psalm.  His first problem seems to be a guilty conscience over some sin in his life. We are not sure when this Psalm was written so it is hard to know which of David’s sins was bothering Him.  His poor health seems to be his second problem.  It seems as if he felt like he was about to die and cries out to be spared.  David is also very distressed because of the other people around him who seem to be rejoicing because of his problems.  When we face these times of trial, we can take a lesson form the life of David and respond to all of them with prayer. WE SHOULD PRAY IN TIMES OF SINFULNESS: Guilt is one of the most debilitating emotions we experience.  When we sin or firs...

There is a tendency in our culture today towards relativity.  Many believe that there is not right or wrong, that we all have the right to choose what works best for us as long as we don’t hurt others.  The Bible and this Psalm stand in stark disagreement with this vision of the world and truth.  We can see that there is a very clear contrast between the obedient and the disobedient.  Their actions, the results of their lives and their standing before God are far different from one another.  As we read through David’s description of himself and his description of the wicked it should be very easy to see which of the two best describes us.  Many people live on the path of wickedness but expect the judgment of the righteous this is delusion and will end in great disappointment and loss. THE ROAD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: We can see a clear description of how the righteous relate with God as well as where that relationship leads.  First of all we see that th...

Interpersonal relationships are one of the most difficult things that we face in our lives especially when they stem from false accusations.  Leaders must get used to the fact that they will almost always be the objects of rumors, misunderstandings and even lies.  This happens because men are by nature jealous and proud so they naturally think that they could do a better job if given the chance.  It also happens to godly leaders because Satan wants to attack them so that they will become distracted and less effective in the work of the ministry.  David is being attacked by the lies of wicked men who what to destroy his reputation and overthrow his reign.  When this kind of thing happens to us, our tendency is to toss and turn in our beds, worry about the results of these lies and sometimes even plot how we can get revenge.  David suggests a much different approach: prayer.  We must learn to take our interpersonal conflicts to the Lord in prayer. C...

All of us will face difficult days in our lives.  Some of those difficulties are of our own making due to our sinfulness.  Sometimes we face hardship because we live in a sin cursed world and that simply causes circumstances that are not pleasant for us.  There are other times that we are persecuted by sinful men because of our faithfulness to God.  No matter what the cause of our difficult days, the solution is the same: we must take them to the Lord and leave them with Him.  He is the source of our strength and the only reliable resource we have for rescue.  David has experienced great difficulty in His life for all three of the reasons mentioned above.  The title of this Psalm lets us know that he wrote it while fleeing from his own son Absalom.  In many ways this came about as a result of his sin with Bathsheba.  However, he is also running from a very sinful and arrogant man.  Even though David was to blame for his circumstances; t...

It is a frustrating and painful thing to move an immovable object; kind of like beating one’s head against a wall.  God is the sovereign creator of the universe; His power is unquestionable and unchangeable.  However, men who have gained some sort of power over the nations of the world through politics mistakenly think that they are in charge and in control.  Many of these leaders go so far as to challenge the sovereign Lord or question His existence.   This is a grave mistake and will bring about great pain and destruction.  No matter what happens on this earth or who seems to be in power in the capitals of the nations; God is the one who is truly in control.  This should inspire us with both comfort and fear. THE LORD LAUGHS AT THE LEADER’S POWER: The nations of the world all go through a process of determining their leadership.  Some nations vote while other nations have leaders who impose their leadership through force.  However that...

Life is full of choices.  The choices that we make throughout our lives will have a profound impact on how we live on the earth as well as how we will stand before God on the Day of Judgment.  This first Psalm presents a clear contrast between the way of the Word and the way of the world.  Today’s society tries to present a view of life that is relativistic and claims that it really does not matter what we choose; as long as it makes us happy.  God makes it clear that our present and eternal well-being is dependent upon the choices that we make.  The Bible paints the choices in life as black and white with a clear contrast between the choices that we need to make.  Today’s culture tries to paint everything in different shades of grey.  We must choose which way we will believe. THE WAY OF GOD’S WORD IS PERMANENT AND PRODUCTIVE: If we want to have a life that is blessed by God we must first determine who or what will be allowed to influence us and b...

We close out the book of Job today with this epic disaster in Job’s life coming to an end with Job’s repentance, Job’s friends being rebuked by God and Job’s fortunes being restored to him once again.  God demonstrates that He is very much aware of all that has been said and done in this situation.  He has always been in control and has cared very deeply for Job in this time of great trial in his life.  Even though Job felt alone and abandoned by God; God was there all the time and actively working in his life for Job’s growth and ultimate good.  God is patient with us and understands our weaknesses, but He does require our repentance.  True repentance always leads to restoration of fellowship with the Lord.  We should not expect monetary rewards on this earth as an automatic result of repentance as happened to Job, but true repentance will always lead to eternal rewards in heaven. JOB REPENTS BEFORE GOD: As Job has heard God’s demonstration of His gre...

God continues to confront Job with his arrogance by demonstrating His greatness in and over creation.  God describes Leviathan to Job and questions if he has the ability to tame him or even touch him.  This great animal seems to be like nothing that we have on earth today.  The closest description that we would have for this great beast would be a dragon.  Apparently, when Job walked the Earth there were dragons or Leviathan that were practically invisible before man.  However, God looks at this great and fearful creature like we would look at a kitten.  God is in complete control of this world and there is nothing that frightens Him.  I have a feeling that if we were to encounter a dragon today that we would stand in awe of it and were it to be loose in our back yard we would tremble in fear of it.  If that is true of Leviathan; than we certainly ought to do the same before the Lord.  WE ALL ANSWER TO GOD: Job has been acting as if God ...

God continues to question Job and now invites Job to answer Him.  For once, and very wisely, Job has nothing to say.  He simply stands in awe of God, places his hand over his mouth and can come up with no response before the Lord.  This reminds me of a typical school yard scene where a kid will talk like he is all tough and makes loud boast about he is willing to take on all contenders until the big kind comes out and suddenly the loud mouth falls into silence.  Job has been full of self-justification for all of these chapters and has been pleading with an opportunity to speak with God and hear from God, but now that he has the opportunity; he realizes how foolish he had been and simply falls silent before the Lord.  We may not know or understand what God is doing or allowing in our lives, but we must strive to recognize that He is above us and it is our place to worship Him not stand in judgment of Him or question His ways.  We may talk with arrogance her...

God continues to question Job’s claim of wisdom through the wonder of creation.  In the previous chapter He used the sky the stars and the sea as a means of demonstrating His care and control.  In this chapter God turns to the animal world and asks Job if he can explain why or how a wide variety of animals behave as they do.  Of course the answer to each of these rhetorical questions is no.  God demonstrates that His knowledge and creativity far exceeds anything that Job, his friends or any of us possess.  God is intimately aware of every aspect of His creation.  If He has such great knowledge of the animals; we should take great comfort in His knowledge of our lives and His care for us. GOD HAS A CLEAR PLAN IN CREATION: Every aspect of God’s creation is carefully planned.  He not only knows exactly how every animal works and what happens to it; He has designed each of them to function according to His plan.  The creation is not a conglomerat...

Finally, the speeches of Job and his friends come to an end.  Job’s complaints and his friends’ condemnation are brought to an abrupt stop when God decides to reveal Himself to Job.  Apparently, God speaks in a way that is audible through a whirlwind.  That must have been an awesome experience to suddenly see a rush of wind and then hear the voice of God pierce through the silence and bring an end to all the speculation of the last dozens of chapters.  Today men scoff at the idea of God and make all kinds of speculations about Him.  Some claim to have special revelations from Him and then teach all kinds of doctrines about Him.  One day, God will reveal Himself to this world again in an unmistakable way.  Jesus will return as King and establish His reign on the earth.  He will speak to us and end all of the speculations that men have had through the centuries.  We can look forward to this day, but must also make every effort to prepare for t...

Elihu concludes his speech with a beautiful description of the greatness and majesty of God.  Job has been longing for God to hear him and respond to him.  Job has been pleading for and audience with God or for the peace of death.  Elihu makes it very clear that man is in no position to argue with God or make demands of Him.  God does not owe man explanations for the paths that He allows us to walk.  We must learn to stand in awe of Him instead of standing in judgment of His decisions.  He is the judge and is always righteous no matter what we think we understand.  It is our job to fear and worship Him without questioning His ways. GOD HAS CONTROL OVER EVENTS IN THE WORLD:  The majesty and the glory of God can clearly be seen through the world that He has created.  The thunder is like his voice.  The lightning reveals His power.  The seasons in all of their variety and the consistency of their cycle reveal the sovereignty of Go...

Elihu continues his speech and points out the glory of God and how His ways are much higher and greater than the ways of man.  In many ways he seems to contradict himself in this chapter because he begins by making blanket statements about how God is and what God does in a variety of situations.  Then he closes the chapter by stating that God’s greatness is beyond man’s ability to comprehend and His ways are beyond man’s understanding.  It is refreshing to hear Elihu state that God is above his ability to understand but in is disturbing to see that this knowledge on his part does not translate into humility when applying these truths to Job’s situation.  We must learn to apply our theology in such a way that it does not contradict what is true of God. GOD IS HOLY IN HIS JUDGMENTS OF MAN: Certainly God is always holy in all that He does.  His judgments are always perfect, true and right.  However, Elihu makes assumptions about God’s judgments that are n...

Elihu turns his attention back to Job once again and he criticizes Job’s attitude before God and his complaints about his current situation.  He does not understand Job’s discouragement with God’s silence and he condemns Job for considering that being righteous does not seem to be worthwhile.  This lack of understanding and sympathy is hard to understand, I often wonder how these friends would be talking if they had been faced with the same circumstances as Job.  If we are honest, I believe we all struggle with the fact that the wicked often seem to prosper while the righteous often seem to suffer.  This tendency does not seem right to us, but it is often the reality.  Job’s questions and struggles are very similar to those that we experience and we have far less difficulty than Job did.  Elihu criticizes these two basic questions of Job. JOB QUESTIONS HIS SUFFERING: Job continually has claimed to be righteous in his actions before both God and man....

Elihu continues to speak in his effort to convince Job of his sinfulness and to defend the Lord’s goodness.  He begs to be heard and understood as it is impossible in his mind that Job’s suffering has not been caused by his own rebellion against God.  He refuses to accept the possibility that God has allowed Job’s affliction without it being as a punishment for sin.  We may often think that we have a clear understanding of the God and His ways.  We know many things about God and we strive to know Him better.  However, we must always remember that our knowledge is always limited and our understanding is always skewed.  He is far above what we can comprehend and what we think we comprehend is tainted through our sinful interpretation.  God’s ways are always right, but they may not always fit within our perspective of what we may expect from God.  Elihu is basically making two points here. JOB IS IN THE WRONG: Job’s state of affliction, in Elihu...

Elihu now turns his attention from Job’s friends to Job himself.  He begs for Job to listen carefully to what he is about to say and to not respond to him as he has responded to the others.  He is very concerned that Job has justified himself before both God and man.  He also cannot tolerate Job’s complaints about God not answering his questions.  He recognizes that he, like Job, is simply a lump of clay formed by God.  That truth leads to two basic conclusions: first, no man is perfect and able to claim innocence before God.  Second, God is greater than man and does not owe men explanations for His actions.  All that God does is just and man must learn to accept what God has determined.  However God does speak to man in at least two ways that Elihu emphasizes in this chapter. GOD SPEAKS TO MAN THROUGH PROPHECY: Even though God is infinitely greater that man and does not need to stoop to man’s level.  God is gracious to reveal Himself to...