Dr Paul Allen

Psalm 13:5 (Photo credit: [Share the Word] ) Psalm 119 stands as an invitation to us to approach God ’s word with our whole minds ( Psalm 119:113 ) and our whole hearts ( Psalm 119:2 ). It commands us to think rightly and feel deeply about God’s word. It leaves no room for a clean division of the intellect and emotions, but rather demands a response from both the mind and the heart. Whether we hear God’s word in a call to worship, a confession of sin , an assurance of pardon, an exposition, or in the benediction — every time we hear the words of Scripture, God is speaking to his people. There is no space for yawning when God is speaking. His word commands our attention, our affection, and our obedience. We see in the 176 verses of Psalm 119 an unbreakable chain of knowing and feeling. The psalmist has tasted the word of God, and has developed an unquenchable appetite for it. His passions have been fixed on knowing and experiencing God’s word. He has what Harold Best would descri...

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." ( 2 Thessalonians  2:11 )   This is a startling declaration! Why would God want to deceive people and cause them to believe a lie? The "cause" which would activate such an extreme decision on God's part must be very serious. The preceding verse states it plainly. It is "because they received not the love of the truth , that they might be saved" ( 2 Thessalonians  2:10 ). Because they "resist the truth" ( 2 Timothy 3:8 ), they will "believe the lie"!   The specific context refers to those who elect to follow the coming " man of sin ," but the principle is timeless. It tells us that God's attitude toward men is determined by their lov...

English: The Ten Commandments, illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments ." ( Proverbs 3:1 ) It is vitally important that, even though we are saved by grace and not by the works of the law, we never forget that God's law is essentially a statement of God 's holiness. We should desire to know and follow God's commandments simply because they are "holy, and just, and good" ( Romans 7:12 ), not because we seek salvation through them. It is noteworthy that the anonymous writer of the longest chapter in the Bible ( Psalm 119 ), in which practically every verse refers to the Scriptures, stressed seven times that he would never forget the laws and commandments of his Lord . May the Lord teach us to share the same determination. Note: "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word" ( v. 16 )....