Weekly Devotional 19th of April, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 19th of April, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we continue to look at a beautiful Psalm, Psalm 91.
Psalm 91:11-14 “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion, and the serpent you will trample down. Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high because he has known My name.”
In verse 11 we note that He does not assign one solitary angel to each saint, as is wrongly believed by many – but He commissions the whole armies of heaven to keep watch over every individual believer. They have received a commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all the interests of the faithful – that is all those who are in Christ.
They act as a total protection of our body, soul, and spirit. How they do this, we are not told, but one day we will stand amazed at the multiple services they have provided for us.
Despite some of the mystery in how they achieve this, it is enough that, they have been appointed as ministers to us, and we should rest satisfied of their being always intent upon their commission. We read elsewhere of their readiness to obey and execute the commands of God, which is aimed to strengthen our faith since their exertions are made use of by God for our defence.
The Psalmist adds, all your ways in the plural number, to convey to us more distinctly that wherever we go we may expect that the angels shall always extend their guardianship to us. The course of our life is subject to many windings and changes, and who can tell all the storms by which we are liable to be tossed? It was necessary, therefore, to know that the angels preside over all our actions and purposes and that we can be assured of their safe conduct in whatever situation we might be called to be in.
If the Lord does not immediately put an end to our afflictions, as we always hope and pray for – we do have the assurance that we shall have His gracious presence with us in our troubles; He also will take notice of our sorrows and visit us graciously by His word and Spirit support and comfort us and join us on this journey; never leaving or forsaking us (Romans 8:35-39).
However, there is a warning here too. Satan knows the Scripture, and he twists it in his efforts to accomplish his evil purpose in our lives. He used this very passage when he tempted the Lord, challenging Him to prove its truth by jumping off the temple (Matthew 4:6). Jesus then disarmed the devil by referring to a Scripture that commands us not to foolishly test God (Deuteronomy 6:16). The lesson is clear: we should not abuse the promises of God by making foolish decisions or committing foolish deeds with the expectation that He nor will protect us.
So, in summary, we can say that these amazing promises belong to those who know God by name; who love Him with all their heart; who commit themselves to His ways and call upon Him in prayer and thanksgiving.
What an amazing God we serve.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington