Dr Paul Allen

English: The Apostle Paul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “O LORD, you have searched me, and known me.” ( Psalm 139:1 ) Perhaps the most frightening attribute of God is that He knows everything about us. Everything! He has “searched” (literally “penetrated”) us and “known” (“understood”) us. And since God is both omnipresent and omniscient, it obviously follows that nothing escapes His conscious knowledge about us.  He observes our ordinary activities (v. 2) and our innermost thoughts. “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (v. 3). The Hebrew word translated “compassest” suggests that He actually sees the formation of the words in our tongues before we begin to speak them (v. 4). That means that we are transparent to Him; we cannot deceive Him in any way. He knows what we are going to think; we cannot hide anything from Him. God knows what only we know about ourselves and those things we won’t even admit to ourselves. Furthermore, He is

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have eternal life , and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” ( 1 John 5:13 ) We are informed in Scripture that He assigns great value and power to His Name. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” ( Acts4:12 ). “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” ( Philippians 2:9-10 ). He protects and empowers us to do great things in service to Him. “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” ( Psalm 3:3 ). “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler” ( Psalm 91:4 ). In His service and following His lead, we are victorious. “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” ( Psalm 115:1 ) One of the great words of the Bible is the word “glory,” and it should be evident that glory belongs to God , not man. Indeed, the very “heavens declare the glory of God ” ( Psalm 19:1 ).  Not only do the heavens declare His glory, but “his glory [is] above the heavens” (113:4), and “the glory of the LORD shall endure for ever” (104:31). In heaven the mighty hosts of angels “give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name” (29:2). It is thus singularly inappropriate for God’s servants on Earth to seek glory for themselves. “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousne

Christ Pantocrator, mosaic, cupola of choir, Hosios Loukas Monastery, Boeotia, Greece (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Yours, O Lord , is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.— 1 Chronicles 29:11 Christianity today is man-centered, not God -centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrass

Sparrow (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Attention is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Along with food and water, a baby needs the attentive gaze of a human face . A baby lies in the crib and smiles, the face smiles back, and the baby realizes that someone is watching, is responding, that what the baby does counts. The baby’s joy or anger or sorrow is reflected in the face of another. Psychologists speak of this as attunement. The baby realizes it is possible to be somehow connected to—in tune with—another human being. This face becomes the mirror through which the child learns whether it is a source of delight or disappointment. A child simply cannot survive without the face. The face is what tells the baby that it matters. One of the great miracles of life is that God pays attention to us. This is partly why the writers of Scripture speak so often of God’s face. This is the hope of the great priestly blessing that God himself taught the people of Israel : The LORD bless

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law .” ( Psalm 119:18 ) Wondrous indeed is the marvelous universe God has created. “Hearken unto this,” we are challenged, “stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God” ( Job 37:14 ). And as we “consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained” ( Psalm 8:3 ), we can only “stand still” in awe at God’s infinite power. We are even more amazed as we study the intricate complexity of living creatures—especially human beings . “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made : marvellous are thy works” ( Psalm 139:14 ). God’s omniscience is more wondrous than even His omnipotence. Then there is His miraculous ordering of history for the accomplishment of His purposes. “We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” ( Psalm 78:4 ).

King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Destroy thou them, O God ; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.” ( Psalm 5:10 ) No less than 20 of the psalms contain what are known as “imprecations”—that is, prayers to God to judge and destroy the wicked—and this verse is the first of them. As such, it sets the pattern, helping us to understand why the Lord would include such vindictive prayers in His inspired Word. At first, they seem incongruous with a God of love and mercy who has told us to love our enemies, but they help us to understand that God also must judge sin —especially the sin of rebellion. In them, we are taught to see the sin of rebellion in its true light—through the eyes of a loving Creator who has been rejected to the point of no return. It is one thing to commit an act of wickedness when overcome by temptation; it is quite another thing for men to deliberately rebel

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the Great Awakening, is still remembered for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We get a job so we can buy our kids shoes, so they can go to school, so they can get a job someday, so that they can buy their kids shoes, so that they . . . " In other words, work is meaningless.  In fact, from this perspective life itself becomes rather meaningless—simply an endless cycle. Or we work so that we can support ministries that do the real work—kingdom work. Now, I'm not opposed to giving to ministries. In fact, I think you can make a strong biblical case that we are obligated to do so. But I wonder if this fully captures the meaning of work. So again, why do you work? I find the start of the answer in Psalm 104. Psalm 104 is a reflection on creation and maybe even a further reflection on the flood of Genesis 6–8. We see the psalmist poetically describing not just God 's creation of th

“But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” ( Psalm 3:3 ) The beautiful metaphor of God as our shield, and our protector from evil, is used over 15 times in the book of Psalms , the first being in our text above. The very first time it is used in the Bible , however, is also the first time the word “shield” itself is used. That was the time when God assured Abram , after his battle with the armies of the northern kings: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield” ( Genesis 15:1 ). This was a great comfort to Abram, there in the land of the Canaanites , where evil and enemies surrounded him on all sides. But consider also a few of the many “shield” promises in the book of Psalms. One of the most beautiful and most uplifting is Psalm 84:11 : “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” And consider also this wonderful promise: “As for God, his way is perfect:

King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all." ( 1 Chronicles 29:11 ) This is one of the great doxologies of Scripture, originally a part of King David's prayer at the time of Solomon 's coronation as his successor. Although David and Solomon were the greatest kings of Israel , and two of the greatest kings in the world of their age, David rightly acknowledged that the Lord Himself was the true King, not only of Israel , but of all heaven and Earth . He is head, the supreme ruler, over all. This is the first occurrence in Scripture of the great testimony of worship: "Thine is the kingdom." In the modern world, however, there are relatively few who acknowledge Him as King of creation. Except for a small minority, most people bel

English: An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "I will go in the strength of the LORD: I will make mention of thy righteousness , even of thine only." ( Psalm 71:16 ) Since God the Creator is omnipotent, if we can go in His strength, there would seem to be no limit to what could be accomplished. The book of Psalms , in particular, over and over again, testifies that God indeed is our strength. For example: "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower" ( Psalm 18:1-2 ). But how do we appropriate God's strength, and how i

English: An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God , ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator -God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so.” —D. A. Carson,  Worship by the Book Tim Challies says: "If you do a word search in the  ESV  for  worship , you’ll find almost 200 occurrences of some form of the word. Scan through these and you’ll soon learn what the biblical authors meant by  worship .  Here are the most common aspects of worship: 1) Worship is about giving glory to God by responding to his self-revelation. “All the nations you have made shall come and  worship  before you, O Lord , and shall 

Psalms 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalms 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. Psalms 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  Psalms 99:5 Exalt the LORD our God ; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!  Psalms 59:16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Psalms 63:3-4 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalms 66:4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah   Psalms 150 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and

English: An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Is worry one of your besetting sins? It can cover a wide range of subjects - immediate family concerns, the economy, teenagers future, jobs, plus other things. We don't like unknowns, and we don't like feeling out of control. To compensate, we often try to keep tabs on all the possible variables that could affect the outcome,  thinking that we can at least be mentally prepared for what could occur. But this is cold comfort. There are too many factors beyond our scope, and as we consider what is outside of our control, the needle on the worry meter goes up. Our thoughts of God are often "too human" 1 , as if He is equally perplexe