January 31, 2018
Psalm 91 is filled with encouragement for humans who place their trust in Creator God. It begins: “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” The entire Psalm is a statement of security and hope.
One of the ways that God carries out His promise of care and protection is the assignment of His angels. Verses 11-12 tell us that “He orders His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.”
Does this suggest that the Creator assigns an angel to each of His children? During my growing up years, I am certain that my mother counted on angel protection as I made some immature choices. My guardian angel must have gasped now and then. And as I review my adult life journey, it is easy for me to believe that an angel was present when I came through life-or-death situations.
The Bible indicates that angels carry out a variety of tasks. Michael appears to be the warrior that eventually will be involved in taking out Satan permanently. Gabriel takes messages to people and was one busy angel when Jesus came into our world to be our Savior. Angels are mentioned several hundred times in the Bible, especially in the Book of Revelation.
An interesting statement in Revelation 5:11 gives an idea of how many angels are at God’s command. Some Bibles say “thousands” or “millions.” One translation says “the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.” I am confident that God knows the exact number, but it is probably not possible for humans to count them.
I like to believe that there is at least one angel watching out for me today, and I hope I can do my part to make the assignment as easy as possible.
Pastor Bill Ehmann