Dr Paul Allen

Christians pray for their enemies—but should they also pray against them? Consider two verses. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). But David says—of an enemy—“Let there be none who extend to him loyal love, nor any who pities his orphans. Let his descendants be cut off. Let their name be blotted out in the next generation” (Ps 109:12–13). Are Jesus and David contradicting one another?1  Should we pray “imprecations” (prayers for God to bring retributive justice to wicked enemies) like these?2  In this excerpt, adapted from May/June 2021 Bible Study Magazine, Adam J. Howell considers these sticky questions—and how we can rightly apply the imprecations from the Psalter to pray for enemies in our own lives. The first thing we must remember is that the imprecatory prayers of the Psalms are inspired Scripture and therefore profitable in the Christian life. We cannot disregard these portions of God’s Word or pass them off as irrelevant t...

I was trying to turn Psalm 1 into a singable song for the Bible club boys (6th grade on up) from the neighborhoods around my church. These were not young men with extensive church backgrounds and full-ride scholarships to elite Sunday schools . Their mastery of rap lyrics was, let’s say, somewhat superior to their knowledge of Scripture. But they had a capacity—and sometimes, I could swear, a desire—to learn. So when I got to Psalm 1’s statement that the wicked are not like the righteous, “but are like the chaff that the wind drives away,” I balked. Randall, Jimenez, and Javante aren’t going to know what “chaff” is, I thought. They’re going to be distracted and put off from learning because of this word. So for the purposes of this kids club song, I changed “chaff” to “dust.” We sang, The wicked are not so, But are like the dust which the wind drives away. I did this because I want people to understand the Bible. I agree with Augustine of Hippo : What is the use of correct speec...

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” ( Psalm 119:160 ) Very few books survive very long. Only a few survive past the first printing, and science books especially get out of date in just a few years. But one book is eternal! The Bible stands! Even its most ancient chapters are still accurate and up to date. Furthermore, despite all the vicious attacks of both ancient pagans and modern humanists, it will continue to endure. Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” ( Matthew 24:35 ; Mark 13:31 ; Luke 21:33 ). Even after everything else dies and all the bombastic tirades of skeptics and secularists are long forgotten, the Word endures. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” ( Isaiah 40:8 ). Note the oft-repeated testimony to this same effect in Psalm 119. In addition to the comprehensive promise of today’s text, this great “psalm ...

We don’t often realize where we put our hope . We can seek sustenance, energy, or relief in the most transient, innocuous things—from our morning coffee to a vacation we’ve been anticipating for months. These things are not bad in themselves, but if they constantly serve as minor fixes in our daily lives, they can shift our focus. We can end up trading God ’s help for caffeine and a few days in the sun. The trouble arises when we fail to see the complexity in our motives. The psalmist helps us look beyond what seems comforting and shielding: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains; whence will my help come? My help is from Yahweh , maker of heaven and earth” (Psa 121:1). The psalmist uses the hills and mountains to point us beyond what we can see to the true source of help and protection. These stationary shields seem to offer protection, but God is the true source of help and refuge in our often chaotic circumstances. He is constantly present—“your shade at your right hand” (Psa ...

“The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” ( Psalm 19:1 ) This verse has been a favorite of many who recognize God’s creatorship. The vastness of space “declares” His power and sovereign control over all and calls us to worship Him as not only Creator but Savior as well. In what ways do the heavens speak? The orderly progression of day and night reminds us of God’s purpose in creating the heavenly bodies, that they should be “signs” for us to aid in telling time and the passage of time ( Genesis 1:14 ). The sun’s light energizes Earth ’s processes. From photosynthesis to tidal and atmospheric movements, the Creator can be recognized as the great Provider. The “line” mentioned in Psalm 19:4 is that of a surveyor’s line, true and accurate. It represents the absolute standard by which our conduct is measured. Just as surely as an Earth-encircling line demarcates light and darkness, so God’s holy nature measures and evaluates our behavior. The ...

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, H...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Someone I know recently expressed an opinion that surprised and in some ways disappointed me. I said to myself, "I thought he would have more discernment than that." The experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment and the lack of it in our world. We know that people often do not see issues clearly and are easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help reflecting on how true this is of the church community, too. Most of us doubtless want to dis...

English: Nathan advises King David (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of the penitential psalms, Psalm 51 was written by David after he was confronted by the prophet Nathan . Nathan declared that David had grievously sinned against God in the taking of Bathsheba to be his wife and in the murder of her husband, Uriah. It's important to see the anguish and heartfelt remorse expressed by David, but we must also understand that repentance of the heart is the work of God the Holy Spirit . David is repentant because of the influence of the Holy Spirit upon him. Not only that, but as he writes this prayer, he is writing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit demonstrates in Psalm 51 how He produces repentance in our hearts. Keep this in mind as we look at the psalm. Psalm 51 begins, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions" (v. 1). Here we see an element that is fundamental...

“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 ...

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” ( John 15:15 ) We possess a special place in God ’s heart. Many uplifting hymns have been written over the centuries that can lead us into a deeper love for and greater understanding of our Savior. One such hymn, “Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him,” introduces many important concepts and reasons to praise . Those who know the Savior are bidden to join together in praising Him. As Christians , we not only “know” Him as Savior, He calls us His friends. He identifies His friends by their obedience to His loving commands: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” ( John 15:14 ). He proves His friendship through His own sacrifice: “Greater love hath no man ...

Psalm 21, Initial D. In: Albani-Psalter (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” ( Psalm 37:34 )   In spite of the occasional successes of the wicked, we are to “wait on the LORD.” The Hebrew word used in this passage for “wait” is unusual. The term  quvah  describes the “binding together” of strings to make a cord. The same word was used to “collect” the water and dry land into separate areas on the third day of creation.   It carries the idea of anticipation toward useful results and does not mean to “hang around and wait.” It does not imply useless boredom, waiting for something to happen. The essence of the term is to be alert, watching the events and activities of the Lord and reacting to His timing and direction. Indeed, the word is translated “look” as often as any other term.   The great promise of “eagle’s wings” recorded b...

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There you are at church, and worship begins, but you are not feeling it. No awe of God . No love for him. Nothing. What should you do? Should you go through the motions anyway? Should you leave and come back next Sunday  for another try? What should you do? What Jesus Taught Jesus taught that true worship must involve both spirit and truth: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John  4:24 ) So we must worship in  truth  — which means worshiping the true God as revealed in Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture. But what does it mean to worship in  spirit ? Two Clues from John’s Gospel One clue is that John’s gospel uses the word “spirit” to refer to feelings and emotions. You can see that in John  13:21 , “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit.” The other clue is that in John 3:6 the word “spirit” refer...