Good Morning!
Today is a good day to talk about angels. Yes, spring training is here, but I’m not talking about a baseball team. I’m talking about heaven’s angels. Psalm 91 refers to them:
Psalm 91:9-13 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place – The Most High, who is my refuge – no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
Is it silly to believe in angels? I mean, really, aren’t they just mere mythology? It would seem to me there is something to angels because this verse showed up with Jesus. You may recall the temptation in the desert when Satan put Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem? He challenged Jesus to throw himself down so that the angels may save him, like the Psalm said. Jesus responded, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord to the test.'” (Matthew 4:7) So, either we believe the bible and all that’s in it or we don’t. Certainly, careful study will prove the bible to be true.
Not to distract, but Psalm 91 is powerful. I highly recommend becoming very familiar with it. It is packed full of promise by God to protect believers, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (v. 1). If you are in deep trouble, this is the Psalm for you. It would be good to memorize it and to learn to pray it back to God. What do I mean by deep trouble? Really, anything, whether flesh or spirit. I recommend “Psalm 91, Real-Life Stories of God’s Shield of Protection” by Peggy Joyce Ruth and Angelia Ruth Schum. It is an excellent examination of the promises and provides all sorts of testimonies of God’s answer to claims made on them.
We don’t give all this much thought as we go about our normal days. We even may start to think the idea of angels is silly until we witness, or speak to someone who has, an event that defies explanation, say, a car wreck that should have killed yet didn’t. Have you ever seen a car mangled beyond imagination, yet the driver survived? It’s pretty easy to believe in angels then. Well, that’s because they do exist, and the bible is true. What it says about them is fact.
Now there are good angels and bad ones. The bad are demons, and they are bad, very bad. You don’t want anything to do with them. Remember, they are Satan’s devoted followers. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. That’s all they do. Satan is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. Nothing good comes from him, including his henchmen. You don’t want them around, and you certainly don’t want to think they are cute. It should be an intentional act of ours to drive them away. They are not wanted.
That is easier said than done. Let’s look at an example of the difficulty good angels have in driving out bad:
Daniel 10:10-14 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken his word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
We see clarification of the role of angels (good angels) in Hebrews:
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
I don’t see any example of humans calling to angels or even asking God to send them. I think that’s God’s decision whether or not to use them (Psalm 91:11). I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask. But, it is very reassuring that he does send them. And, you can be certain he will use them for each and every believer. However God choses to do things, know this – it is God that saves and God alone that we should seek. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in one. Pray to each of them. Ultimately you are praying to the Father, but they are one. Never mind how God carries out his promise. Maybe he’ll use angels, maybe he won’t.
Know this, he can and does. More importantly, rest in this promise:
Psalm 91:14-16 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Is this a promise worth claiming? I should think so!
Father, I seek you and desire to have more and more of you. Drive out all that interferes. I do not want to entertain evil. Replace it instead with you and thoughts of Jesus. Send me to places to meet people that need to hear the gospel. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 Scott Powers