Touched by an Angel

We’re going to consider a Psalm that does not have a title. David is not mentioned either. Bullinger would write, “…for we have no more right to insert the name of ‘David’ where it is not written, than to take it out where it is.” The common thinking is that this Psalm was written by Moses for Israel, which makes this Psalm even more fascinating.

The Secret Place

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psa 91:1)

Is this not a fascinating verse? This entire Psalm is about how Moses along with the other believers within the nation of Israel can claim the Lord as their refuge and exist within the comfort and security of His protection in this life and in the next.

What is that secret place?

I’d suggest that secret place is the same hidden place where we exist, hid with Christ in God, because every saint is designed to be part of that temple of the Lord at the end of Eph. 2. But Moses adds another layer when he also writes, “under the shadow of the Almighty.” He’s saying that if they’re abiding IN the secret place, THEN they are also UNDER the shadow of the Almighty. The Jewish believer who abides under the shadow of the Almighty, the protection of the Almighty, exists in His secret place. How is it secret? It’s hidden in plain sight. Human eyes cannot see this. Their lives under the shadow of the Almighty is a secret hidden in plain sight because this is a truth about the protection they have, which human eyes cannot see.

So Moses in this Psa. 91, speaking of himself on behalf of OT believers, the remnant of God’s people, their spiritual lives also exist in a secret place that is a reality that cannot be seen. In that OT program, being in that secret place meant that they also abided in the shadow of the Almighty. The Lord was their refuge in the sufferings of this present life and their refuge from enemies. They now existed under the shadow of His protection from earthly threats and earthly trials. God became their protector and sustainer of life on Earth.

Guardian Angels

Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler (the fowler is sportsman who goes out and hunts down wild fowls, kills them for food. He is a predator and the wild fowls were his prey), and from the noisome pestilence. Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

This brings to mind the words of the Lord in Mat 23:37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Moses continues. Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

We have these amazing words of comfort for the people of Israel. Moses listing their protection from these hypothetical real-world threats: a terror in the night, arrows in the daytime, pestilence that may we destroy thousands of people but not them. Because they are abiding in the secret place of the shadow of the Almighty, they will be able to see with their own eyes the Lord bringing justice to the wicked.

Then Moses goes into more detail. He says in vs. 11, For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. God will, first of all, give his angels charge over thee. Isn’t that interesting? Let’s first talk about “charge.” What did he mean by that? This is “charge” in the sense of Moses and His people being given over to the custody of angels. Under God’s supervision, angels were entrusted with the care or management of His people.

Notice also what Mose says. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, the singular you. This was a charge over thee, over you personally.

We’re going to make the case, perhaps a controversial one, that the angels weren’t simply guardians of Israel corporately. They were over individuals, too.

Did this mean that the people of Israel had guardian angels? I believe they did.

In Matt. 18, there is a conversation the Lord is having with His disciples. The context of the verse we’re going to read has to do with the fact that the disciples asked Him who will be greatest in the kingdom.

Mat 18:1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Mat 18:2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Mat 18:5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Mat 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Then He talks about sin. Sinning against a child or a believer who has humbled himself and come to Christ with simple, child-like faith, if that disciple were to sin against or to cause that child or believer to stumble, there will be consequences.

And look at what He says in Mat 18:10, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

This verse is more than just an affirmation of guardian angels. This verse is an outright threat to the disciples. By pointing out that these children all have angels who always behold the face of the Father, He’s saying that if you despise one of these children, the Father may well use that child’s guardian angel to come after you. If a disciple sinned against a child, or caused a child to sin, whether a literal child or a babe in the faith, you may well expect a conversation between the Father and that child’s guardian angel, and you can expect a consequence to those actions.

This is why He said in vs. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. He’s telling them that there are consequences to those actions and vs. 10 implies how those consequences may be carried out. It’s at the discretion of the Father who may employ that child’s guardian angel to bring about justice for what happened.

This is also perhaps why we’d read in that famous verse in Heb 1:14 in which the writer says of angels, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” He’s saying that those guardian angels of the individual saints in the OT didn’t simply minister TO those individuals. They ministered FOR those individuals. They did for those saints what those saints could not do for themselves. They guarded and protected them. This is why Moses said in Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep (protect) thee in all thy ways. This is why the Lord said in Mat 18:10 …That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father… Because that angel will protect that child when he cannot protect himself and anything that angel does is at the discretion of the Father in Heaven.

Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Moses is saying God shall, first of all, give his angels charge over thee, “charge” in the sense of His people being given over to the custody of angels. Angels were entrusted with the care or management of each individual believer amongst His people of Israel.

Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Matthew Henry made a point about this verse I loved. He said that the expression, They shall bear thee up in their hands denotes both angels’ great ability and great affection. “They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms…”

So let’s look at these two verses together. Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Satan himself would quote these passages when he tempted Jesus. Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, Mat 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Do you remember how the Lord responds? He quotes Moses right back at him except he quotes Deut. 6:16.

Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

The great irony here is that Satan, the fallen cherub, is mocking guardian angels and what was written about them in Psa. 91, because he knew how the program of guardian angels worked. He knew that if someone did something nonsensical like jump off a cliff or a temple, no guardian angel was going to save him. Satan was distorting Psa. 91 and using that chapter to twist and mock how the program of guardian angels worked as he tempted the Lord to do something nonsensical, to prove something he already knew was true. He wanted the Lord to try to kill Himself, because he knew the guardian angels weren’t allowed to save Him.

I suspect Satan chose Psa. 91 because he was annoyed about what was said of him in the next verse.

Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Satan knew God was talking about him in that verse, confirmed later as a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon, and this verse is saying that the people, in the shadow of the Almighty, with all those guardian angels would tread upon Satan himself just as Paul would tell the Romans in Rom 16:20 how The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet. The believer in all ages, who exhibits the righteousness of Christ in his walk, stomps under his feet the power of Satan.The believers in the OT exhibited the righteousness of Christ through the law, and we today exhibit His righteousness by adorning the doctrines of grace. The result for them and us is that in our holy walk, we defeat the power of Satan.

Words of Comfort

Moses would conclude this Psalm with some of the most comforting words to Israel about what it meant to be in the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psa 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Matthew Henry would make the point about vs. Psa 91:16 in which Moses wrote, With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation, saying, “That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (Psa 91:16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for…”

Conclusion

There are literally hundreds of OT examples of God using angels to intervene in the affairs of man. He’d use angels to communicate His will to man. Angels were sometimes used as an answer to prayer, and they were at times sent by God to communicate His will or give a prophecy or provide an interpretation of a dream or a vision. And don’t forget that epic story of those angels and chariots of fire protecting Elisha and other saints in 2 Kings 6.

Paul does not tell us that we have any guardian angels, nor do we need them today. We have inside of us is the entire triune Godhead. The life we are living right now is the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t need guardian angels. We are the temples of the living God. We don’t concern ourselves about protection from the trials of life because we know that the Lord is preserving our souls unto His heavenly kingdom.

We are hid with Christ in God. We are in God, hid with Christ, sealed by the Spirit. We are eternally secure in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are secure in our standing before God beyond all human comprehension, and the result is we have no fear. We have peace. We have joy knowing already that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.