Unlike many of its neighbors in the early part of Psalms, Psalm 8 is an apparently straightforward song of praise to God.  In vs. 1-2, it points out His power, revealed both in the glories of creation and in His exaltation of the lowly over the wicked.

The key question of the psalm appears in vs. 3-4.  Given that God is so great, why does He have any regard for mankind ("the son of man" in v. 4), which is much less important than He is?  The rest of the psalm points out that God's regard is evident in His blessings.  He has made mankind the most exalted of the earthly beings, crowning us with glory and honor, and given us dominion over all other earthly creatures.

Makes sense, right?  However, in Hebrews 2, the writer reveals that the psalm has a hidden meaning.  It isn't only about the lower-case-s son of man, us.  It's about the capital-s Son of Man, Jesus.  Even though Jesus was not originally lower than the angels, He was made to be so.  

Like us, He tasted mortality, but after His death, He was crowned with glory and honor and given dominion not only over the creatures of the earth, but over all of God's creation.  However, we still await the time when everything will be put under His feet.  Death has yet to be subjected to Him.

All of this might seem like a subversion of Psalm 8's original point, but in truth it confirms it.  It is ultimately Jesus' death on our behalf, not our earthly preeminence, that proves how much God cares for us.  In Hebrews 2:10, the writer observes that Jesus brought many sons to glory.  Our salvation is the greatest way that God crowns us with glory and honor, all by causing His Son to become one of us and die for us.

In response to this, we can only echo Psalm 8's closing thoughts:  "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

Last week, we observed that the early part of Proverbs is dominated by four characters/groups of characters.  One of these is the woman of folly, the adulteress.  Though she is female because the original audience of Proverbs was male, her characteristics can be applied to evil people of either sex, both married and unmarried.  Here are some of the big ones:

1. She preys on the naïve.  The adulteress doesn’t go after the wise old father of Proverbs.  Instead, in the words of Proverbs 7:7, she pursues “a young man lacking sense”.  Though Christians of any age or level of spiritual attainment can be vulnerable, the young and immature are especially so.  Young disciples who think they know it all had better be very, very careful in avoiding sexual sin!
    
2. She is flattering.  All of us want to be pursued.  All of us want to be wanted.  The adulteress provides that.  As Proverbs 7:10-13 reveals, she doesn’t wait to be sought.  She goes out seeking.  She provides the naïve young man with validation that he is special.  Of course, there is nothing special about being sought out by sin.  The devil eagerly seeks all of us.
    
3. She is religious.  According to Proverbs 7:14, she has come straight from worshiping God to seek sexual immorality.  She’s got that worship box checked; now she can pursue her desires.  From this, we should learn that our friendships with other Christians are not 100 percent safe.  Even Christians who desire to be righteous can lead each other astray through foolishness.  How much more dangerous are those who desire to be wicked!  When we are surrounded by brethren, we still can’t let down our guard.
    
4. She is sensually alluring.  Even thousands of years later, the come-on of Proverbs 7:16-18 is provocative and powerful.  Luxurious fabrics, beautiful colors, exotic scents, and the sultry whispers of the seductress combine to overwhelm the senses of the young fool.  What could be more appealing? 
   
   Today, of course, sexual temptation appears in forms that are no less alluring.  Whatever our buttons may be, Satan knows where they are and how to push them.  We may have such a high opinion of our spiritual maturity that we think we’re immune.  We aren’t.
    
5. She is crafty.  In Proverbs 7:19-20, she tells her foolish lover-to-be that their sin together will be completely safe.  The husband is long gone.  He will be nowhere to be found.  Nobody is going to catch us.  What could possibly go wrong? 
   
   In the same way, the devil wants us to believe that our sexual sin is perfectly safe.  We aren’t going to get caught.  We aren’t going to get found out.  There will be no consequences.  All of these comforting promises are, in fact, lies.
    
6. She is deadly.  Proverbs 7:22-23 reports the sad fate of the young fool:  passing pleasure, then death.  Today, sexual immorality is one of the most common ways for Christians, especially young Christians, to wreck their lives.  Sexually transmitted disease, unexpected pregnancy, divorce, and heartbreak all wait for the sinner. 
   
   All of this is to say nothing of the most significant consequence:  spiritual death through separation from God.  The practice of sexual sin ensures that God will be against us, and if He is against us, who can be for us?  Seductive though the adulteress may be, the penalty for sin is more than any of us can afford.

Much of the book of Proverbs is made up of one-shot epigrams without any obvious connection to their context.  However, the first portion of the book isn’t like that.  Instead, it’s dominated by four imaginary characters, all of whom make speeches that frame the rest of the book.  Each one of them personifies some kind of wise or foolish behavior.  In the order in which we encounter them, they are:

The Wise Father.  Whether or not we have earthly fathers who said and did foolish things, the father in Proverbs does not.  Instead, he embodies the wisdom that comes from experience.  In his time, he’s seen it all.  He’s watched as other young men have gone down inviting paths that ended in disaster.  He doesn’t want his son (the reader of Proverbs) to meet the same wretched fate, so he’s instructing him in both wise and unwise choices.

In Proverbs, listen to Dad.  He’s right, though the wisdom of his advice may not be obvious.  Even if you don’t get it, do what he says.  In time, you’ll look back and be glad you did.

The Evil Companions.  In Proverbs 1, Dad’s first warning is about some wicked friends who have a speech of their own to make.  They want the son to come with them and become a highway robber.  They’ll waylay passersby, kill them, and take their stuff.  Everybody will be rich!

Don’t listen to these guys, the father says.  You might think you’ll end up rich, but really you’ll end up dead.

There is more literal value in this advice than we might think.  A young man I once taught in Bible class is currently up on charges for robbery and murder.  However, for most of us, other applications are more relevant.  First, we have to beware of peer pressure.  If we run with the wrong crowd, they will lead us to do the wrong thing. 

Second, we must watch out for all the ways that the love of money can distort our conduct.  In God’s eyes, Bernard Madoff isn’t any better than Jesse James.  If we seek dishonest gain, sooner or later, it will wreck us.

Lady Wisdom.  She has the next speaking part in Proverbs 1, and is neither more nor less than a feminine personification of wisdom and its consequences.  If you listen to Lady Wisdom, she is very generous.  She will see to it that you are rewarded with wealth and honor. 

On the other hand, if you ignore her, she turns into a hag.  She will watch as you ruin yourself, and she will laugh at you the whole way down.  How many of us have known the sting of looking back, seeing what we should have done, and regretting that we did not do it?

The Woman of Folly.  Though the woman of folly (my mother would have denied that she was a lady) doesn’t get a speaking part until Proverbs 7, we’re warned about her from Proverbs 2 on.  She is the stereotypical seductress:  eager to get her hands on naïve young men and destroy them.

From her, all of us, whether male, female, old, or young, have much to learn.  She represents the attractions and dangers of sexual sin.  The woman of folly lurks in schools and workplaces, at parties, and even on the Internet.  Whether we give our bodies to her or merely our hearts, the consequences will be brutal.

The Bible is rich in paradox, but one of my favorites appears in Revelation 5:5-6.  John begins this text by recalling, “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’”

This is a text that creates all sorts of expectations in the listener.  We’re about to be introduced to somebody who is simultaneously the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and a conqueror.  Each of these descriptors is rich in imagery and Scriptural resonance. 

Let’s start with the lion.  Even the irreligious recognize lions as ferocious, majestic creatures.  The Biblically literate are reminded of Jacob’s blessing of his son Judah in Genesis 49:9. 

Second, the Root of David is an offshoot of Israel’s greatest king, the warrior who killed giants and led his people to regional preeminence.  In order for the title to apply, the candidate had better have the right Davidic lineage, be kingly, and be a victorious war leader.

Third, as we would expect, this leonine Root has conquered.  The Jews of Jesus’ time would have been in no doubt about what to expect here.  They’ve been under Roman domination for too stinkin’ long; it’s time to start dominating the Romans instead!

However, John takes all these expectations and subverts them in the very next verse.  He says, “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” 

Whoa!  This is like expecting a steak dinner and getting a cube of tofu instead.   The heroic victor over the enemies of God’s people looks like a baby sheep.  Worse still, He looks like a DEAD baby sheep.  This is an animal with zero capacity to conquer, who in fact clearly has been conquered.  And yet, the elder says, “This is the One who has overcome.”  What gives?

That’s exactly God’s point.  In literal terms, Jesus didn’t look like anybody’s idea of a victor.  He spent His whole life as a Jewish peasant.  He never led armies in battle; indeed, He told His followers to sheathe their swords.  He didn’t kill His enemies; they killed Him. 

However, this meek Lamb of a Savior proved to be a lion.  He overcame not through brute force and hatred, but through lowliness and love.  His enemies thought they had defeated Him on the cross, but through His death and resurrection, He defeated the greatest enemy of mankind, the devil himself.  He will stand for eternity as the greatest conqueror of all time.

God’s lions are lambs.  We should remember this not only about our Lord, but about ourselves.  We find personal victory not by asserting our will, but by submitting to God’s will.  We prove our worth in the kingdom not by insisting on our own way, but by humbly serving others.  We bring others to Christ not through domination and coercion, but through patience and love. 

To worldly wisdom, this is and always has been foolishness.  Surely, anybody who acts like that will get trampled on and despised!  Surely, a people that acts like that will be shoved aside and forgotten!  However, the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and His path leads not to irrelevance, but to triumph.  If we are led by the spirit of the Lamb, we will share in His glory too.

Lots of people binge-watch TV shows.  Recently, I’ve been binge-reading personal-finance blogs.  One of their favorite topics is asset allocation, in other words, where you should put the money you’re saving for retirement. 

Of all the possible investments, the one with the highest returns historically is the stock market.  However, most financial gurus will tell you not to put all your money in stocks or stock mutual funds.  It’s too risky.  What do you do if you’re invested in 100 percent equities, and the market tanks the day after you retire?  Your portfolio may never recover.

Instead, the gurus recommend putting part of your money in stocks, another part in bonds, maybe another part in cash or T-bills.  The overall returns probably won’t be as good, but those safer investments will protect you from disaster.

This divided strategy makes a lot of sense financially, but a lot of Christians try to apply it where it’s not appropriate.  We have examples of men and women of faith who were 100 percent invested in God:  Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Paul, and many others.  They gave up substantial earthly rewards and faced severe trials for righteousness’ sake, and they were all rewarded.

However, too many brethren look at these examples and say to themselves, “Oooh—too risky!”  They try to hedge their investment in God.  God promises them inexpressible joy in Christ, but they’re worried that they won’t be happy without their alcohol habit or porn habit, so they cling to it.  God promises them eternal fellowship in heaven, but they’re worried about losing friends here if they’re too vocal about their faith, so they remain silent.  Rather than being 100 percent invested in God, they’re 75/25, or maybe 50/50.

This diversified spiritual portfolio may seem wise to earthly reasoning, but it’s an invitation to spiritual disaster.  As Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:13, we are supposed to set our hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed.  Fully.  That’s 100 percent.  Not 90 percent on grace, 10 percent on pleasure.  Not 75 percent on grace, 25 percent on friends.  Nope.  Fully.  Otherwise, we will fail to achieve what is most important. 

Our journey to heaven isn’t like a retirement account:  passive, under the influence of forces beyond our control.  Instead, the Scripture compares it to a race, in which a partial investment can only lead to disaster.  NASCAR drivers don’t race to economize on gas.  They race to win.  Athletes don’t jog through the 100-meter dash so they can have a comfortable walk to the car afterward.  They run to win. 

We need to run to win too, and we need to recognize those “diversification opportunities” not as ways to avoid risk but as encumbrances that will keep us from winning.  Many of the problems that we worry about never actually come up, but even if they do, so what?  5000 years from now, nobody in heaven will be saying, “Man, I really wish I hadn’t given up my drinking habit!”

In that day, there will be regrets in plenty, but to find them, you’ll have to look someplace else.