Gary Gleans

God presents a very clear distinction between what is right and wrong.  He seeks to show us a contrast between what is black and what is white.  Satan seeks to paint a world that is hundreds of shades of grey.  This Proverb presents a very clear contrast between two “women” that call for our attention.  The distinctions are very clear and the destinations are very different.  We must make a choice between the two because it is impossible to have both. THE “WOMAN” CALLED WISDOM: This woman has built a beautiful home that is safe and secure.  She has prepared a wonderful feast and she calls out with a loud voice for all who desire to come in and be fed of her wisdom.  She calls to the simple to come in and leave their folly behind that they might learn to walk in truth and light.  Unfortunately there are many scoffers who hear this instruction and turn away in hatred or resort to violence because they are offended by the words of wisdom and correction.  The wise man will turn from h

This Proverb is written from the perspective of wisdom, as if wisdom were a person.  Wisdom presents himself and describes himself to us that we might be able to recognize him and value him as we move forward into life.  Wisdom ought to be our closest friend and constant companion.  Here are a few things that we learn about wisdom. WISDOM IS AVAILABLE: Wisdom is never hidden or unavailable.  He is out on the streets and at the gates of the city.  He presents himself with a clear voice that should be unmistakable when we hear him.  Wise men are and God Himself is anxious to reveal Himself to us.  We must take advantage of this fact and love the wisdom that is available to us.  Sin lurks in corners and dark rooms and thrives in secrecy.  Wisdom has nothing about which to be ashamed and stands out in the open for all to see. WISDOM IS VALUABLE: Wisdom is a far greater treasure than wealth, status, power or position.  Wisdom is what qualifies a king to rule and a prince to prepare

Adultery is once again the main theme of this Proverb.  Solomon wants to warn his sons of the destructiveness and the dangers as well as the seductiveness of this sin.  He gives a very vivid description of the adulteress.  As we read this description I think it is helpful for us to look at the description as it pertains to the sin of adultery in general and not only describing one particular adulteress.  The temptation of this sin can sound so tantalizing in our minds when we do not listen to the voice of wisdom that has been given to us by God.  There are many lessons to be learned here that will help us stand firm in the face of this temptation. WHO IS VULNERABLE TO THE ADULTERESS? I think that it is very important for us to realize that every single one of us, no matter what our age, is vulnerable to this temptation.  I have spoken to men of all ages who battle this temptation and we have seen men of all ages fall into this temptation.  However, there are certain factors that p

Foolishness is something that comes naturally to all of us.  It is so easy for us to do foolish things because it just kind of comes naturally to us because of our fallen nature.  It takes effort and a great deal of discipline for us to learn wisdom and put it into practice.  We must constantly be reminded of the principles of wisdom from God’s Word and the instructions of wise men that have spoken truth into our lives.  This chapter of Proverbs gives us some very valid reminders of foolish things that we must learn to avoid. DON’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS: Money is always a source of tension, danger and conflict.  It is a very foolish thing for us to get involved in the financial affairs of others.  That does not mean that we should not be generous to the people around us.  It is fine for us to give money to others as a gift, but we should never loan money to people that we cannot afford to give them as a gift.  When we agree to co-sign on a loan for someone, we are taking

Sexual sin is one of the most tantalizing temptations that we face.  All sins promise to provide pleasure of some kind but in the end they produce pain.  However, with sexual sin all of this is magnified a great deal.  The lure of sexual sin is one of the strongest, all-consuming and irresistible temptations that we face.  Young men are especially vulnerable to this temptation, but scores of older men and women of all ages have fallen prey to seductive powers of sexual sin.  Unfortunately, the consequences of sexual sin are proportionate to the power of its appeal.  The pain that sexual sin has inflicted upon humanity is far greater and much longer lasting than the passing pleasures that it has produced.  Families have been torn apart, countless un-born children have been slaughtered and bodies have been infected with terrible diseases because of sexual sin.  But even more tragically, numerous people have turned their backs on God because of sexual sin.  This chapter of Proverbs gives

The path of wisdom has been passed down from generation to generation as fathers tell their children how they ought to live their lives.  Parents love their children and are anxious to see them be successful.  Many times our parents have made mistakes in their own lives that they desperately want to help their children avoid.  We ought to pay close attention to the instruction of our fathers and learn how to be free from the consequences of following wicked men that often surround us.  We should be thankful for the wise instruction that has been given to us and then be faithful to pass it on to our own children. LOVE THE PATH OF WISDOM: Hearing the instructions of our fathers and the Word of God is the first step to loving the path of wisdom.  Too often young people think that they know everything and that they do not need to pay attention to the instruction of their elders.  We must learn to listen to and love that instruction.  These instructions have the power to extend our liv

One of the greatest treasures available on this earth is to be blessed by God.  The blessing of God is worth more than any amount of gold and is worth more than any amount of praise from men.  Unfortunately we have a tendency to place a higher value on prosperity and popularity than we do upon the blessing of God.  God’s blessing is upon those who walk is wisdom.  In many ways wisdom is its own reward but beyond the blessing of wisdom we experience additional blessing from God as a result of living according to wisdom. THE WORTH OF WISDOM: Wisdom is truly a precious possession that is a huge blessing to all who attain it.  It is more precious that wealth or any other thing that we could desire.  Wisdom brings us long, fruitful, meaningful and peaceful.  Wisdom brings blessings from God. It is this way because God created it to be so.  He created the world with certain laws and principles that flow from His boundless knowledge.  It is our job to value this knowledge, obey the Lord

God is the Creator of our lives and He knows how we should function.  He knows that we will find our greatest fulfillment in doing what He has designed us to do.  Unfortunately, ever since the fall of Adam, the hearts of man have been burdened with sinfulness that causes us to rebel against God instead of do what He desires.  Our tendency is to look at ourselves as gods and follow our own way, but that is not how we were made to function.  We are worshipers and find our greatest joy in worshiping God.  It is pure deception for us to believe that we will find joy in being worshiped.  We must remember that our greatest joy will be found in Him. HEAR THE LORD: If we are going to please the Lord we must learn to hear the Lord.  We have received instruction from God through His Word and the people that He has placed around us.  We must not forget that instruction but do all we can to remember it and strive to follow it.  This will bring us a long and peaceful life.  The love and faithf

IF … THEN … SO… These are the three words that jump out at me from this Proverb.  Solomon teaches his son and us that IF we seek for wisdom THEN God will bless us with wisdom SO we will be able to avoid sin and be blessed of God.  As we go through Proverbs over the next few weeks I feel that it is important to remember that Proverbs are Proverbs not promises.  A Proverb is a wise saying that is an observation about life and the way that it works.  It is not a promise that always comes true in everybody’s life.  These are not formulas that will never have any exceptions; they are principles that usually hold true.  We will find this pattern of IF, THEN, SO in many of the Proverbs and they are always very excellent for us to follow but we must remember that they are Proverbs. IF WE SEEK WISDOM: Seeking wisdom is vital to being wise.  We seek the things that we value and it is of utmost importance that we place a high value on wisdom.  Wisdom almost always comes to us in the form of

The purpose of Proverbs is to promote wisdom and expose folly.  Wisdom is the ability to live well which means according to the design of our Creator.  The Proverbs are like a set of instructions from a wise father who is striving to prepare his son for the realities of life and wants him to do well.  The Proverbs promote righteous living and seek to help the simple and foolish grow in their knowledge so that they can become wise and then continue to grow in wisdom.  These sayings are an effort to summarize instructions and make them memorable so that they can guide the heart of those who pay attention to them.  The fear of the Lord is where all proper living must begin, it is foolish to consider that there is a way to live our lives apart from the instruction of our Creator and still be successful.  As we travel through the book of Proverbs in the weeks ahead we will notice a great deal of repetition.  Remember that these are instructions designed to reach the heart of a son or daugh

We conclude our long journey through the wonderful book of Psalms.  The theme throughout has been praising the Lord.  It is only fitting that the conclusion be this beautiful call to praise the Lord.  The language is too poetic for me to try to reproduce.  I will just sum it all up with these three observations: PRAISE THE LORD EVERYWHERE: God is to be praised in the His holy place, here called His sanctuary.  This seems to refer the temple or to what we would call church.  Certainly we are to gather corporately for the purpose of praising the Lord.  God is praised in His mighty heavens.  Angels and the human inhabitants of heaven are constantly engaged in praising the Lord and we will be occupied with praise for all of eternity when these mighty heavens are our home too.  His deeds and His greatness are always worth of praise. PRAISE THE LORD WITH EVERYTHING: David calls us to look for anything and everything and use it as an instrument of praise to the Lord.  Trumpets, lutes

Praising the Lord continues to be the theme of these final Psalms.  It seems amazing to me that the all mighty God would take pleasure in the praise of an insignificant person like me.  It seems even more amazing that an insignificant person like me is so often slow to praise such a magnificent God.  Our entire lives should be dedicated to the honor and praise of the Lord.  All of our talents and all of our energies should be dedicated towards the worship of God.  David calls the children of Israel over which he ruled to lift up the name of the Lord.  We too are called to use all of our might to praise the Lord.  David urges his people to praise the Lord using two very contrasting methods. PRAISE THE LORD WITH SONGS: All along David has been urging us to sing praises to the Lord.  David wrote this incredible collection of Psalms that are for the purpose of lifting the hearts of the people in songs of praise to the Lord.  Songs can be sung with our voices or they can be played on ins

David sends out a call to praise and worship to all of creation.  God has created everything and everyone for the purpose of praising and worshiping Him.  David sees the entire universe coming together in an anthem of praise to our God.  The truth of the matter is that the only parts of the universe that does not do this naturally are the human and demonic beings that He created.  We are the ones created with wills and therefor the most capable of praise but also the most capable of blasphemy.  All of the rest of creation groans under the curse of sin longing for that glorious day when we all join in that anthem of praise we were created to perform for an audience of ONE. THE HEAVENS PRAISE THE LORD: The heavens are made up of all the angelic hosts as well as the celestial bodies in the vast expanse of the universe.  God created the angels to minister in His presence for all of eternity and to serve Him in the world that He made.  Some of the angels rebelled and are no longer in H

David continues with his reasons for praising the Lord and urges us to us all of our might and all of our strength to praise Him at all times.  It is good for us and it is pleasing to God when we praise Him.  We will find our greatest satisfaction in life when we fulfill that which we were created to do.  We bring the most glory to God when we do what He made us to do.  God is worth of our praise for many reasons and it is good for us to recall those reasons on a regular basis because it will spur us on to worship and praise Him as we were created to do. WE PRAISE HIM BECAUSE HE HEALS THE BROKENHEARTED: God is a kind and merciful God who takes great compassion upon the weak and oppressed.  He gathers the outcasts and He takes care of their broken bodies and broken hearts.  No matter how powerful the enemies we face may be, the Lord’s power is far greater than all of them.  He knows the stars by name and has placed them in the universe by His awesome might.  His understanding is li

Praising God is our life long occupation.  We should constantly be urging ourselves to praise Him and lift up His holy name.  David promises to make praise the priority of his life for his entire life.  We would do well to follow this example.  David gives us a stark contrast between the realities of those who trust in men and those who trust in God.   We are too easily impressed by men who attain a certain level of power on this earth.  Our tendency is to put political figures, athletes and wealthy men up on pedestals that belong to God and God alone.  We must guard our hearts from this idolatry and urge our hearts to faithfully praise the Lord.  David demonstrates good and compelling reasons that we should praise the Lord. WE PRAISE GOD BECAUSE HE IS PERMANENT: David calls on believes to not put their trust in princes or any man for that matter because they are powerless to save us from our sin and because their power is limited and temporary.  No matter how “great” a man may be

Worship God is what we were created to do.  We are to speak and sing of His greatness and the wonderful works of His hands.  Unfortunately, we are often too busy trying to attract attention to the works of our hands that we take very little time to tell others about the works of His hands.  We take God’s mercy and grace for granted to the point that we do not even notice it for ourselves; much less put forth the effort to tell others about it.  This over awareness of self and under awareness of God is perhaps the most common form of idolatry.  We are far too easily impressed with ourselves and other people and far too ignorant of the presence and power of God in our lives.  David helps us greatly in this Psalm by calling us to worship. HOW WE SHOULD WORSHIP: There is not exact formula for how we should worship, but David does give us some great examples of how he worshiped and that should shed some light on the subject for us.  We should worship God by exalting His name.  We exalt

Praising the Lord is one of the most important things that we were created to do.  That does not mean that we all need to be able to sing or play instruments like David, music is only one form of praise.  David was a musician so he sang, played his instruments and composed Psalms as a means of praising the Lord.  Not all of us are that talented but that does not excuse us from praising the Lord with the gifts that God has given to us.  We can use our prayers, our words and even our actions as means of praising the Lord.  The key to praising the Lord is recognizing His works in our lives and then being grateful for them and telling Him and others about it.  David set a great example for us of praising the Lord through his prayers. WE PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROTECTION: As David looks around, he sees that he has been surrounded by enemies who are violent, dishonest and wicked.  Instead of lashing out at God in fear, David takes up his instruments of praise and begins to tell of the great

There are times when we long to hear an answer from God and it seems like He is far away and that He does not hear our prayers at all.  Usually these are the times when we feel like we are in the biggest trouble and we need Him the most.  It is important that we remember that our feelings are very volatile and do not always reflect the reality of our situation or God’s attentions.  We must not become discouraged and give up seeking the Lord especially when we feel like it is not doing any good.  Our faith must take precedence over our feelings and we must trust Him to hear our prayers, keep His Word and accomplish His will.  There are two things mentioned in this passage that can help us to trust God in the midst of our trials. REMEMBER GOD’S WORKS: When we look around us and see that we are surrounded by trouble and trials and there seems to be no hope of escape; we tend to project that hopelessness to the future and can become desperate.  David is in this situation.  He is surro

Loneliness is one of the most difficult challenges for us to face.  God made us to live and function in the context of community.  We live in families, our families live in neighborhoods, we gather in groups of like-minded people for the purpose of entertainment, conversation and worship.  When we are forced by circumstances to be separated from all of those relationships we begin to feel desperate and can even border on insanity.  This was David’s reality as he was fleeing from the presence of Saul and literally on the run for his life.  When we feel that we are all alone, have been separated from our community and are surrounded by those who only want our harm; we can follow David’s example in this passage. TELL THE LORD ABOUT OUR DIFFICULTIES: The reality of the life of every believer is that we are never alone.  No matter how far we are, geographically speaking, from our families and communities; God is always with us.  There is no place that we can go that is apart from Him. 

Evil is all around us and unfortunately is also within us.  The evil that surrounds us is much easier for us to identify than that which resides within our hearts.  God is over all of these situations and knows exactly how to handle both our hearts and the wickedness that surrounds His children.  It is our place to ask for Him to do just that.  Our prayers should be a constant calling on God to be at work in our hearts as well as in the world around us.  Sin as an offense against God and should be a major concern in our lives if we desire to seek and follow Him. GOD IS FAITHFUL TO REVEAL OUR HEARTS: Our own sinfulness is the greatest danger that any of us face in life.  Fortunately, God is committed to remove all sinfulness from His children.  That is what He has promised to do through redemption and He is faithfully bringing His plan of restoration and redemption to its predetermined purpose.  God has determined to make all those who trust Him into the likeness of Jesus.  In orde

All of us are very much aware of the fact that we share this planet with many wicked men.  There are many people who do not fear God and live in direct rebellion against Him.  These men do not threaten God in any way, but they sure can make life miserable for those people who do love God that live in close proximity to them.  The question that we must answer is how are we as believers expected to respond not this reality?  There have been many responses throughout history to this question.  Some have tried to exterminate evil through military action, others have tried to ignore it in hopes that it will go away.  Neither response has been very effective.  The truth is that as long as we are waiting for the return of Christ we will face this reality.  However, this Psalm sheds some light on how we should respond to this reality. PRAY FOR PROTECTION FROM WICKED MEN: Prayers is the most effective means through which we can deal with wicked men.  We need to always remember that all men