An Angel Shields a Praying Woman With Its Wingsby CBPepper
91:11Psalms 91:11
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
God gives His angels charge to guard and uphold those who make Him their refuge and trust in Him, keeping them in every part of life. In all ways means only in the ways He devises and appoints, the path of obedience and duty where He calls a person to travel, not a self-chosen course, forbidden path, or deliberate danger. That limit was twisted when the promise was quoted to urge casting down from the temple to prove sonship, but true trust does not needlessly imperil life, force rescue, or demand miraculous proof, and to do so is presumption that tests God. The guardianship therefore belongs to those who stay in strict obedience, faith, watchfulness and prayer and do their appointed work, while cherishing known sin, neglecting known duty, or choosing an independent course drives angels away and leaves a person beyond protection. These unseen messengers continually watch over steps, warn against temptation, oppose evil, turn aside danger, bear up the feet from stumbling, and will guard the faithful amid judgment and final distress, though this keeping does not spare all sufferers from affliction and death.
Words and Their Limit
The promise is that God gives His angels charge to keep a person, and the keeping is in all ways, with those words essential to the promise and never to be left out. In all ways means only in the ways God has devised and marked out, the ways He has chosen and appointed, the path of obedience and duty where He calls a person to travel and where protection from all evil is given. It is the path shown through the light of God's Word, the way of His choosing, inside which alone the guard of angels is pledged.
That limit means the promise does not cover venturing into Satan's ways or a path Satan marks out, nor a self-chosen path, forbidden paths, or deliberately entering danger. It does not authorize acting presumptuously, departing from the appointed work, defying God, disregarding duty, or stepping outside obedience while still expecting protection. It gives no warrant for doing Satan's bidding on a dare to give evidence of divine character, to prove truth, to prove sonship, or to prove divine care in response to proposals God has not originated. To claim it so is to step out of the path of providence, to tempt the Lord God, to force Providence to rescue, and to place oneself where the enemy can worst and overcome to personal hurt and injury to God's cause.
When the verse was quoted on the pinnacle of the temple to urge casting down, the limiting words to keep in all ways were omitted. The omission left out the condition of God's appointed ways and twisted angelic protection into an excuse for presumption, courting danger, and obeying Satan in order to force God to give protection.
Temptation on the Temple
On the pinnacle of the temple the promise of angels given charge to keep in all ways was quoted to urge Christ to throw Himself down and prove He was the Son of God, with Scripture itself used to support deception and to disguise temptation as good. The quotation left out the keeping in all ways, to keep in all thy ways, twisting angelic protection into an excuse for presumption, courting danger, and obeying Satan to force God to give protection. The promise was thus turned into a dare to give evidence of divine character, to prove truth, and to demand miraculous rescue before the mission was complete.
Christ refused to step outside obedience, to leave God's way, or to cast Himself down unbidden before His mission was complete, and declared that such a use tempts the Lord God. He would not test God, display His glory by throwing Himself from the temple, or follow a path appointed for His work in any other way than as an example to humanity. His way was God's way, and under the plan of salvation He did not perform a miracle for Himself to escape the needs and hardships of human life.
Perfect trust does not needlessly imperil life to give proof, force Providence to rescue, demand a display of protection, or experiment on God's faithfulness and love. To create needless danger and demand that God prove His care is presumption and weakness, not faith, and asking God for what He has not promised tests Him. The promise does not authorize putting God to the test by deliberately risking life, entering a path devised by Satan, or taking a presumptuous dare to prove sonship, truth, or divine care.
Christ stayed in trust and submission without performing a miracle for His own benefit, using His power to escape difficulty, or seeking display for His own relief and glory. Trusting the Father did not mean putting Him to trial at Satan's urging, but keeping the feet in the path the Lord had marked out and refusing to enter Satan's way. This victory in trial and peril gives humanity a perfect example of faith, showing how to meet temptation and how firm faith trusts God without presuming on mercy or forcing providence.
While He remained in God's ways no harm could come to Him apart from God's will, for angels watched over Him as He followed God's way rather than seeking miraculous rescue for Himself. They could indeed have borne Him up if God required danger to be faced, and Christ trusted that the Father would not allow Him to be tempted beyond strength given, but would send an angel to deliver Him from the tempter if necessary. After the trial angels ministered to strengthen and comfort Him, and God likewise gives His people power to overcome temptation with angelic ministration.
Angels Given Charge
God gives His angels charge, command, appointment and commission to guard, keep, protect and uphold in all their ways those who make Him their refuge, choose Him as Redeemer, walk humbly before Him and trust in Him. This keeping places them under His broad shield of power and everlasting care and covenant of love, and it holds amid peril and judgment when the wicked suffer. These are unseen heavenly messengers who guide and shield from evil, warn against temptation, and oppose evil angels seeking to destroy, so that the guarded are not alone and yet must not rely on human strength. The following verse explains the charge as bearing them up so the foot does not stumble.
They continually watch over and protect, helping to keep from sin and its influence, with God present to help in every place and emergency. They do not force or bend the will but gently warn, counsel and protect, guiding the submitted will away from danger and standing in the way of a wrong course. When evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut Jesus from view and draw eyes to darkness unto distrust and murmuring, God puts His angels in charge to spread their wings over the anxious ones and scatter the thick poisonous darkness. They hasten to aid everyone who pleads with strong faith and agonizing cries and struggles with all energy and persevering prayer to resist evil, and rays of light from Jesus encourage hearts and lighten countenances, while the indifferent and careless who make no effort are left and darkness shuts them in like a thick cloud. Their care includes guiding travelers, thwarting harmful plans and turning aside danger, though much of this protection is not recognized until the providences of God are seen clearly.
Each saint has an attending guardian angel, and God gives every person and every family this watchcare of a holy angel. An angel watches over each saint, carries news of discouragement or danger to heaven, and may be sent to encourage and help keep from straying from the narrow path. The guardian attends continually, records words and actions, stays nearby in danger when sincere prayer for help has been offered, prompts a better course and influences words and actions to keep from leading others into wrongdoing, and when needed God sends another angel to rescue, strengthen and raise above earthly influences. Heaven is near in the ordinary walks of life, for angels attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command. These invisible watchers sometimes let their light shine so distinctly that it is recognized, giving a glimpse of the light of God to teach His love and guarding power, to encourage right doing and to make the heart thankful, since they watch moment by moment. Each redeemed person's angel guards steps and protects in danger through life, accompanies through death, keeps watch over the resting place, and greets at the resurrection, and in the hereafter the redeemed will speak with this angel and learn how divine care and heavenly help shaped life.
The promise belonged also to Christ, the Author of salvation, and angels actively carried out their commission of watchfulness and love on His behalf. God gave His angels charge over His Son to keep Him and bear Him up so He would not dash His foot against a stone, yet this did not authorize putting life at risk to force God to display power, and deliberately testing God is wrong. Satan omitted in all Thy ways when he cited the promise to tempt Jesus to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple to prove sonship, hiding his true character behind Scripture while inviting and taunting. At Nazareth angels were by Jesus in the synagogue while He spoke and attended Him amid the infuriated mob when the Jews thrust Him out of the city to the brow of the steep precipice to cast Him headlong down, and amid shouts and curses and stones and dirt they preserved His life, blinded the eyes of the maddened throng, conducted Him to safety, and He disappeared from their midst. God sent angels to attend Jesus and preserve His life amid human hatred, insult and abuse until He had completed His saving mission, because He could not trust people to protect Him, though their protection did not prevent Him from eventually dying at the hands of those He came to save.
The same charge is illustrated by angels guarding Luther and bringing him through the storm of persecution unharmed while his work remained unfinished and God had work for him to do. An angel warned Melanchthon that officers were about to arrest Grynaeus, enabling him to escape across the Rhine, and Melanchthon believed the warning had come through a holy angel. Angels protected Luther from his enemies' fury so he could continue his work, which does not mean all who suffer for truth will be spared, since many who received his teaching endured torture and death. An angel appeared as a man and led William Miller safely away from an angry mob plotting to kill him, because his work was not yet done.
Protection in Final Peril
The promise belongs to the time when the Lord comes to end wickedness, assuring the faithful of protecting care amid peril and judgment while trouble and distress fall upon the wicked. It is for those who make God their refuge, choose Him as Redeemer, trust Him, abide with Him, and walk humbly before Him, kept in safe paths under His everlasting covenant of love and the everlasting care and salvation secured for the righteous. At the final hour of trial they will be protected, escape the coming troubles on earth, and enter the heavenly kingdom. During the seven last plagues the saints are still mortal on earth, yet guarded by angels so that no plague comes near their dwellings, a promise that gives reason not to fear and that would be needless if they were already immortal.
As Israel was protected on the night God struck Egypt, so the true Israel sealed for protection will be protected in the perilous time when Christ rules the nations with a rod of iron. Those who keep Christ's word through waiting and trial will be kept from the worldwide hour of temptation, kept alive by the ministration of heavenly angels in the time of trouble just before Christ comes. This keeping depends on obedience to known duty, for neglecting a known duty or an express command leaves people without security from the wrath of enemies, since angels cannot shield one who disregards God's precepts. Even in severe trial God watches His repentant people, hears their cries, and sends His angels to comfort, protect, uphold and guard them. His love remains strong and tender, the trial removes earthliness so that Christ's image may be reflected in them, and victory is sure as they surrender themselves to Him.
This guarding does not mean that all who suffer for truth will be spared torture and death, for many who received the truth have endured death while others were delivered while God still had work for them to do, as seen with Luther amid persecution. It does not mean rescue without suffering or affliction, for angels commissioned to rescue those who depend on Christ in trying and dangerous encounters with Satan, so they will not be overcome, still leave them to suffer, and those who try to work in harmony with Jesus' instruction are often preserved from accidents and harm without knowing it yet not kept from affliction. In the time of trouble transgressors of God's law will have no safety, illustrated when Moses going to face Pharaoh stood in deadly danger and could live only as holy angels protected him, yet failure to circumcise his youngest son removed that shield until the rite was performed.
Obedience Keeps Protection
The guardianship belongs to those who stay in the path of duty and do the work appointed for them, keeping the way of the Lord in strict obedience, walking in faith, striving lawfully in perfect harmony with the law of God, and carrying forward His work in the face of all foes. So long as they remain in all the ways of God the enemy can gain no advantage over them, and victory over the world and over all opposition comes through such faith. Christian pilgrims on the way to the New Jerusalem travel Zionward under this guardianship by trusting the keeping power of God, with every step taken with eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of faith, in strict faithfulness and determined fidelity in every act, putting away all self-seeking, dissension and strife so that unity and harmony prevail. This is necessary because enemies, emissaries of Satan, are always on the alert to hurt and destroy every soul who is not on guard and has not provided himself with the Christian armor of righteousness and peace. The promise does not cover deliberately entering forbidden paths of temptation, rash presumptuous acts done to accept a challenge, to give proof of sonship, or to step outside duty, and to claim it for such acts is to tempt the Lord God. Daniel in the king's court shows the true pattern, for angels keep those who are brought into danger while walking in the way of duty.
The promise is given on conditions of faith and obedience, willingness to be kept, living the truth, watching and praying, and looking to God for wisdom rather than trusting man or the arm of flesh. It means not to let perplexity bring discouragement, but to take God at His word, believe His words, appropriate them to individual experience, pray, and let faith increase, with all heaven pledged to help and strengthen and with power waiting to be bestowed, God being strength and front guard and rearward to those who hold to Him. God works on behalf of His people when necessary, guides and strengthens them as they walk uprightly, and puts His angels in charge to guard those who trust Him against evil angels leading them to distort the truth. It is not a license for presumption and does not promise a miracle or angelic rescue for needlessly putting oneself in danger, going where God has not called and does not require going, disregarding reason, or self-confidently exposing oneself to peril. In such cases God will not work a miracle to relieve the person and will not send His angels to preserve him, just as He will not preserve from burning one who chooses to place himself in the fire.
Angels charged to guard do not force or bend the will but gently warn, counsel, and protect, and when a person submits the will to God they guide away from danger and stand in the way of a wrong course. Those who cherish known sin, persist in sin, neglect a known duty or express command of God, disregard reason and prudence, or choose an independent course can drive the angels away, take themselves out of protection and place themselves in the devil's hands, beyond that protection and left to Satan's control, attacks, and deceptions. This protection is God's constant care in ordinary activities and places, including travel, homes, and eating and drinking, guarding from dangers not seen. Those who repeatedly and persistently reject His warnings and counsel and choose to act independently of His Spirit and choose their own course place themselves outside it, and God then does not commission His angels to prevent Satan's attacks. In the time of trouble just before Christ's coming angels will protect those who obey God, but neglecting a known duty or an express command leaves people without security from their enemies' wrath, because angels cannot protect them while they live in disobedience.
Moses going to face Pharaoh stood in deadly danger and could live only as holy angels protected him, yet his failure to circumcise his youngest son left him without that shield until the rite was performed. Neglect of even one divine requirement removes security, for angels cannot shield one who is disregarding God's precepts. The same condition holds in the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, when the righteous will be kept alive by the ministration of heavenly angels while transgressors of God's law will have no safety. Angels watch over people to guard them so they will not perish, and their care does not make careless living harmless. A victory over temptation must be maintained through continued faithfulness, for trials and temptations will continue till the very close of time and believers need to keep in close companionship with Christ.
Believers must not do anything to displease watching angels, who know what is done and are present to protect in all experiences, with all heaven interested in the moves made to obtain the victory. Trifling talk and indifference grieve them, and their constant watchcare should lead to avoiding words that grieve them. Remembering that a heavenly angel is by the side especially when exceedingly tried helps honor Christ, who made it possible to lay hold upon divinity and become sons and daughters of God, and helps stay constantly on guard in speech. When provoked to speak unkindly or to retaliate, silence is eloquence, and repeatedly preserving dignity under provocation surprises opposers and shows connection with a higher power and honors God. A life marked by humility, meekness, patience, loving forbearance, unity in the Spirit, circumspect action, and silence under provocation creates an atmosphere that brings these guarding angels.
Trust and Daily Living
The promise is to be taken personally at face value, believed word by word, appropriated to individual experience, prayed over, and allowed to enlarge faith, with reliance placed on God rather than on human beings or the arm of flesh. Perplexity is not to be allowed to bring discouragement, temptation and troubled doubts are not a sign of being forsaken, and those who hold to Him and walk uprightly have His personal care as strength and front guard and rearward, with all heaven pledged to help and with power waiting to be bestowed. Vigilant angels are appointed to guard and support every step, so that no one who trusts is alone, not even alone in a room, and the humble and contrite are especially ministered to and borne up when they might fail. The same charge covers the mortal saints on earth during the plagues, guarding them so that no plague comes near their dwellings, which gives reason not to fear and would be needless if they were already immortal.
Parents are to pray in faith for God to remain with them and for holy angels to guard themselves and their children, since young and old face daily troubles, temptations, and Satan's power. Morning prayer is to thank God for protection through the night and to ask for angelic care, help, and grace amid the temptations and trials of the day for both parents and children, and evening prayer is to commit travel, sleep, and daily movements to the same watchcare. Jesus sends angels to guard children and youth amid many temptations and to help them resist Satan, and when a family faithfully and prayerfully trains its children even ordinary home life is made sacred through this guarding care. Earnest prayer and living faith secure this protection for the home, the day's journey, and the night's rest.
Much of this guarding through life — watching over travelers, thwarting harmful plans, turning aside danger, and delivering from dangers, snares, and malice of temptations that are never seen — is not recognized until the providences of God are seen clearly in the light of eternity. Angels attend steps day by day against exposure to evil powers and attacks of evil angels, delivering from perils both seen and unseen throughout the ages. Recognizing how safely the path is guarded day by day and hour by hour should awaken gratitude, thanksgiving, praise, cheerfulness, happiness, and strength to think and pray, with God's service acknowledged in every prayer. The promise is to be sought by daily prayer for preparation for His work and for a large bestowal of His Spirit, by thirsting for salvation and special help, by knowing life hid with Christ in God, by desiring nothing on earth beside Him and finding Him the crown of rejoicing, and by feeling miserable when separated from Jesus, since without His grace and special assistance nothing can be done.
The keeping appears in concrete deliverances in which cars are kept on the track and separated in train wrecks, ships are kept on course through storms, and carriages, wagons, horses, and wheels are restrained in accidents. In one train wreck the travelers were preserved by keeping their car on the track and separating it from the cars that crashed, as if an angel had detached it, and this was understood as God sending an angel to preserve life. On a stormy voyage the ship was kept safe on its course by heavenly angels doing God's bidding, without whose protection it might have been swallowed by the sea, showing care extending even to the smallest details of life for those in danger. When destruction was attempted by overturning a wagon, angels surrounded the travelers and one placed an arm beneath them so they would not be injured, and in the same way travelers are kept in storms, sanitarium patients are saved with greater horror prevented, and falls, stairs, limbs, and daily steps are guarded. On a journey the assurance was given that God's angel would go along, sustaining and protecting His servants in their ways.
Angels also accompany the work itself, strengthening preachers, standing by workers on journeys, counseling and directing the cause through chosen human agents so that it does not rest in the hands of any one person on earth. Heavenly angels accompany the Christian physician in the sickroom in care for patients and in delicate, dangerous operations. They attend and guard teachers and students who work earnestly and in faith to sell truth-filled books such as Christ's Object Lessons, and heaven blesses their efforts. They preserve the means solemnly consecrated to reaching souls, guide in planning it, keep it in its work, and protect life from surrounding and even unknown perils, so that nothing less than the loving care of the life-preserving Saviour keeps workers through perils and provides an asylum of safety enabling them to leave places of bitter opposition where life is in danger and to accomplish work elsewhere. That providential guarding of consecrated means comes through presentiment in prayer and through warning dreams given in figure, revealing that money left in unsafe hands is not safe and must be drawn at once and put to its appointed use, so that when failure comes not one dollar is lost. City workers are likewise encouraged by this charge to go forward without discouragement.
Special help is given to the tempted, the humble and contrite, the physically blind in dangers they cannot see, the sick after fervent prayer, children who pray to do right, youth facing temptation, students, and those beset over earthly possessions. When a child prays for strength to resist temptation and tries to do what is right, God directs angels to stand by the child, guide steps in the right path, help resist evil in reliance on God's strength rather than self, and drive back evil powers. Ministering angels protect dedicated children, hear their praise and prayers of faith, and carry their petitions to Christ, who ministers for His people in the heavenly sanctuary and offers His merits on their behalf. A guardian angel attends each person, records words and actions, stays nearby in danger when sincere prayers for help have been offered, prompts a better course, and influences words and actions to keep from leading others into wrongdoing and to draw others to Christ. Jesus gives strength to endure trials and resist temptation, yet His Spirit will not attend those who fail to cultivate kindness, control passion, and submit words and actions to God, while to others angels bring needed memories to mind and turn thoughts toward a better way.
Safety in the conflict with darkness lies in keeping the eyes directed upward when evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut Jesus from view and to draw eyes to darkness unto distrust of God and murmuring against Him. Angels continually spread their wings over the anxious ones to scatter the thick poisonous darkness pressed around them, and they hasten to aid everyone who pleads with strong faith and agonizing cries and struggles with all energy and persevering prayer to resist evil. Rays of light from Jesus then encourage hearts and lighten countenances, clearing away the darkness so that Jesus is not shut from view. God would send every angel from heaven to guard faithful people from being deceived and led away by lying wonders, as they also do their part to prepare for the coming conflict. But angels leave those who are indifferent and careless and make no effort to resist, call upon God, and help themselves, and darkness shuts them in like a thick cloud.
God gives His angels charge to guard and uphold those who make Him their refuge and trust in Him, keeping them in every part of life. In all ways means only in the ways He devises and appoints, the path of obedience and duty where He calls a person to travel, not a self-chosen course, forbidden path, or deliberate danger. That limit was twisted when the promise was quoted to urge casting down from the temple to prove sonship, but true trust does not needlessly imperil life, force rescue, or demand miraculous proof, and to do so is presumption that tests God. The guardianship therefore belongs to those who stay in strict obedience, faith, watchfulness and prayer and do their appointed work, while cherishing known sin, neglecting known duty, or choosing an independent course drives angels away and leaves a person beyond protection. These unseen messengers continually watch over steps, warn against temptation, oppose evil, turn aside danger, bear up the feet from stumbling, and will guard the faithful amid judgment and final distress, though this keeping does not spare all sufferers from affliction and death.
Words and Their Limit
The promise is that God gives His angels charge to keep a person, and the keeping is in all ways, with those words essential to the promise and never to be left out. In all ways means only in the ways God has devised and marked out, the ways He has chosen and appointed, the path of obedience and duty where He calls a person to travel and where protection from all evil is given. It is the path shown through the light of God's Word, the way of His choosing, inside which alone the guard of angels is pledged.
That limit means the promise does not cover venturing into Satan's ways or a path Satan marks out, nor a self-chosen path, forbidden paths, or deliberately entering danger. It does not authorize acting presumptuously, departing from the appointed work, defying God, disregarding duty, or stepping outside obedience while still expecting protection. It gives no warrant for doing Satan's bidding on a dare to give evidence of divine character, to prove truth, to prove sonship, or to prove divine care in response to proposals God has not originated. To claim it so is to step out of the path of providence, to tempt the Lord God, to force Providence to rescue, and to place oneself where the enemy can worst and overcome to personal hurt and injury to God's cause.
When the verse was quoted on the pinnacle of the temple to urge casting down, the limiting words to keep in all ways were omitted. The omission left out the condition of God's appointed ways and twisted angelic protection into an excuse for presumption, courting danger, and obeying Satan in order to force God to give protection.
Temptation on the Temple
On the pinnacle of the temple the promise of angels given charge to keep in all ways was quoted to urge Christ to throw Himself down and prove He was the Son of God, with Scripture itself used to support deception and to disguise temptation as good. The quotation left out the keeping in all ways, to keep in all thy ways, twisting angelic protection into an excuse for presumption, courting danger, and obeying Satan to force God to give protection. The promise was thus turned into a dare to give evidence of divine character, to prove truth, and to demand miraculous rescue before the mission was complete.
Christ refused to step outside obedience, to leave God's way, or to cast Himself down unbidden before His mission was complete, and declared that such a use tempts the Lord God. He would not test God, display His glory by throwing Himself from the temple, or follow a path appointed for His work in any other way than as an example to humanity. His way was God's way, and under the plan of salvation He did not perform a miracle for Himself to escape the needs and hardships of human life.
Perfect trust does not needlessly imperil life to give proof, force Providence to rescue, demand a display of protection, or experiment on God's faithfulness and love. To create needless danger and demand that God prove His care is presumption and weakness, not faith, and asking God for what He has not promised tests Him. The promise does not authorize putting God to the test by deliberately risking life, entering a path devised by Satan, or taking a presumptuous dare to prove sonship, truth, or divine care.
Christ stayed in trust and submission without performing a miracle for His own benefit, using His power to escape difficulty, or seeking display for His own relief and glory. Trusting the Father did not mean putting Him to trial at Satan's urging, but keeping the feet in the path the Lord had marked out and refusing to enter Satan's way. This victory in trial and peril gives humanity a perfect example of faith, showing how to meet temptation and how firm faith trusts God without presuming on mercy or forcing providence.
While He remained in God's ways no harm could come to Him apart from God's will, for angels watched over Him as He followed God's way rather than seeking miraculous rescue for Himself. They could indeed have borne Him up if God required danger to be faced, and Christ trusted that the Father would not allow Him to be tempted beyond strength given, but would send an angel to deliver Him from the tempter if necessary. After the trial angels ministered to strengthen and comfort Him, and God likewise gives His people power to overcome temptation with angelic ministration.
Angels Given Charge
God gives His angels charge, command, appointment and commission to guard, keep, protect and uphold in all their ways those who make Him their refuge, choose Him as Redeemer, walk humbly before Him and trust in Him. This keeping places them under His broad shield of power and everlasting care and covenant of love, and it holds amid peril and judgment when the wicked suffer. These are unseen heavenly messengers who guide and shield from evil, warn against temptation, and oppose evil angels seeking to destroy, so that the guarded are not alone and yet must not rely on human strength. The following verse explains the charge as bearing them up so the foot does not stumble.
They continually watch over and protect, helping to keep from sin and its influence, with God present to help in every place and emergency. They do not force or bend the will but gently warn, counsel and protect, guiding the submitted will away from danger and standing in the way of a wrong course. When evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut Jesus from view and draw eyes to darkness unto distrust and murmuring, God puts His angels in charge to spread their wings over the anxious ones and scatter the thick poisonous darkness. They hasten to aid everyone who pleads with strong faith and agonizing cries and struggles with all energy and persevering prayer to resist evil, and rays of light from Jesus encourage hearts and lighten countenances, while the indifferent and careless who make no effort are left and darkness shuts them in like a thick cloud. Their care includes guiding travelers, thwarting harmful plans and turning aside danger, though much of this protection is not recognized until the providences of God are seen clearly.
Each saint has an attending guardian angel, and God gives every person and every family this watchcare of a holy angel. An angel watches over each saint, carries news of discouragement or danger to heaven, and may be sent to encourage and help keep from straying from the narrow path. The guardian attends continually, records words and actions, stays nearby in danger when sincere prayer for help has been offered, prompts a better course and influences words and actions to keep from leading others into wrongdoing, and when needed God sends another angel to rescue, strengthen and raise above earthly influences. Heaven is near in the ordinary walks of life, for angels attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command. These invisible watchers sometimes let their light shine so distinctly that it is recognized, giving a glimpse of the light of God to teach His love and guarding power, to encourage right doing and to make the heart thankful, since they watch moment by moment. Each redeemed person's angel guards steps and protects in danger through life, accompanies through death, keeps watch over the resting place, and greets at the resurrection, and in the hereafter the redeemed will speak with this angel and learn how divine care and heavenly help shaped life.
The promise belonged also to Christ, the Author of salvation, and angels actively carried out their commission of watchfulness and love on His behalf. God gave His angels charge over His Son to keep Him and bear Him up so He would not dash His foot against a stone, yet this did not authorize putting life at risk to force God to display power, and deliberately testing God is wrong. Satan omitted in all Thy ways when he cited the promise to tempt Jesus to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple to prove sonship, hiding his true character behind Scripture while inviting and taunting. At Nazareth angels were by Jesus in the synagogue while He spoke and attended Him amid the infuriated mob when the Jews thrust Him out of the city to the brow of the steep precipice to cast Him headlong down, and amid shouts and curses and stones and dirt they preserved His life, blinded the eyes of the maddened throng, conducted Him to safety, and He disappeared from their midst. God sent angels to attend Jesus and preserve His life amid human hatred, insult and abuse until He had completed His saving mission, because He could not trust people to protect Him, though their protection did not prevent Him from eventually dying at the hands of those He came to save.
The same charge is illustrated by angels guarding Luther and bringing him through the storm of persecution unharmed while his work remained unfinished and God had work for him to do. An angel warned Melanchthon that officers were about to arrest Grynaeus, enabling him to escape across the Rhine, and Melanchthon believed the warning had come through a holy angel. Angels protected Luther from his enemies' fury so he could continue his work, which does not mean all who suffer for truth will be spared, since many who received his teaching endured torture and death. An angel appeared as a man and led William Miller safely away from an angry mob plotting to kill him, because his work was not yet done.
Protection in Final Peril
The promise belongs to the time when the Lord comes to end wickedness, assuring the faithful of protecting care amid peril and judgment while trouble and distress fall upon the wicked. It is for those who make God their refuge, choose Him as Redeemer, trust Him, abide with Him, and walk humbly before Him, kept in safe paths under His everlasting covenant of love and the everlasting care and salvation secured for the righteous. At the final hour of trial they will be protected, escape the coming troubles on earth, and enter the heavenly kingdom. During the seven last plagues the saints are still mortal on earth, yet guarded by angels so that no plague comes near their dwellings, a promise that gives reason not to fear and that would be needless if they were already immortal.
As Israel was protected on the night God struck Egypt, so the true Israel sealed for protection will be protected in the perilous time when Christ rules the nations with a rod of iron. Those who keep Christ's word through waiting and trial will be kept from the worldwide hour of temptation, kept alive by the ministration of heavenly angels in the time of trouble just before Christ comes. This keeping depends on obedience to known duty, for neglecting a known duty or an express command leaves people without security from the wrath of enemies, since angels cannot shield one who disregards God's precepts. Even in severe trial God watches His repentant people, hears their cries, and sends His angels to comfort, protect, uphold and guard them. His love remains strong and tender, the trial removes earthliness so that Christ's image may be reflected in them, and victory is sure as they surrender themselves to Him.
This guarding does not mean that all who suffer for truth will be spared torture and death, for many who received the truth have endured death while others were delivered while God still had work for them to do, as seen with Luther amid persecution. It does not mean rescue without suffering or affliction, for angels commissioned to rescue those who depend on Christ in trying and dangerous encounters with Satan, so they will not be overcome, still leave them to suffer, and those who try to work in harmony with Jesus' instruction are often preserved from accidents and harm without knowing it yet not kept from affliction. In the time of trouble transgressors of God's law will have no safety, illustrated when Moses going to face Pharaoh stood in deadly danger and could live only as holy angels protected him, yet failure to circumcise his youngest son removed that shield until the rite was performed.
Obedience Keeps Protection
The guardianship belongs to those who stay in the path of duty and do the work appointed for them, keeping the way of the Lord in strict obedience, walking in faith, striving lawfully in perfect harmony with the law of God, and carrying forward His work in the face of all foes. So long as they remain in all the ways of God the enemy can gain no advantage over them, and victory over the world and over all opposition comes through such faith. Christian pilgrims on the way to the New Jerusalem travel Zionward under this guardianship by trusting the keeping power of God, with every step taken with eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of faith, in strict faithfulness and determined fidelity in every act, putting away all self-seeking, dissension and strife so that unity and harmony prevail. This is necessary because enemies, emissaries of Satan, are always on the alert to hurt and destroy every soul who is not on guard and has not provided himself with the Christian armor of righteousness and peace. The promise does not cover deliberately entering forbidden paths of temptation, rash presumptuous acts done to accept a challenge, to give proof of sonship, or to step outside duty, and to claim it for such acts is to tempt the Lord God. Daniel in the king's court shows the true pattern, for angels keep those who are brought into danger while walking in the way of duty.
The promise is given on conditions of faith and obedience, willingness to be kept, living the truth, watching and praying, and looking to God for wisdom rather than trusting man or the arm of flesh. It means not to let perplexity bring discouragement, but to take God at His word, believe His words, appropriate them to individual experience, pray, and let faith increase, with all heaven pledged to help and strengthen and with power waiting to be bestowed, God being strength and front guard and rearward to those who hold to Him. God works on behalf of His people when necessary, guides and strengthens them as they walk uprightly, and puts His angels in charge to guard those who trust Him against evil angels leading them to distort the truth. It is not a license for presumption and does not promise a miracle or angelic rescue for needlessly putting oneself in danger, going where God has not called and does not require going, disregarding reason, or self-confidently exposing oneself to peril. In such cases God will not work a miracle to relieve the person and will not send His angels to preserve him, just as He will not preserve from burning one who chooses to place himself in the fire.
Angels charged to guard do not force or bend the will but gently warn, counsel, and protect, and when a person submits the will to God they guide away from danger and stand in the way of a wrong course. Those who cherish known sin, persist in sin, neglect a known duty or express command of God, disregard reason and prudence, or choose an independent course can drive the angels away, take themselves out of protection and place themselves in the devil's hands, beyond that protection and left to Satan's control, attacks, and deceptions. This protection is God's constant care in ordinary activities and places, including travel, homes, and eating and drinking, guarding from dangers not seen. Those who repeatedly and persistently reject His warnings and counsel and choose to act independently of His Spirit and choose their own course place themselves outside it, and God then does not commission His angels to prevent Satan's attacks. In the time of trouble just before Christ's coming angels will protect those who obey God, but neglecting a known duty or an express command leaves people without security from their enemies' wrath, because angels cannot protect them while they live in disobedience.
Moses going to face Pharaoh stood in deadly danger and could live only as holy angels protected him, yet his failure to circumcise his youngest son left him without that shield until the rite was performed. Neglect of even one divine requirement removes security, for angels cannot shield one who is disregarding God's precepts. The same condition holds in the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, when the righteous will be kept alive by the ministration of heavenly angels while transgressors of God's law will have no safety. Angels watch over people to guard them so they will not perish, and their care does not make careless living harmless. A victory over temptation must be maintained through continued faithfulness, for trials and temptations will continue till the very close of time and believers need to keep in close companionship with Christ.
Believers must not do anything to displease watching angels, who know what is done and are present to protect in all experiences, with all heaven interested in the moves made to obtain the victory. Trifling talk and indifference grieve them, and their constant watchcare should lead to avoiding words that grieve them. Remembering that a heavenly angel is by the side especially when exceedingly tried helps honor Christ, who made it possible to lay hold upon divinity and become sons and daughters of God, and helps stay constantly on guard in speech. When provoked to speak unkindly or to retaliate, silence is eloquence, and repeatedly preserving dignity under provocation surprises opposers and shows connection with a higher power and honors God. A life marked by humility, meekness, patience, loving forbearance, unity in the Spirit, circumspect action, and silence under provocation creates an atmosphere that brings these guarding angels.
Trust and Daily Living
The promise is to be taken personally at face value, believed word by word, appropriated to individual experience, prayed over, and allowed to enlarge faith, with reliance placed on God rather than on human beings or the arm of flesh. Perplexity is not to be allowed to bring discouragement, temptation and troubled doubts are not a sign of being forsaken, and those who hold to Him and walk uprightly have His personal care as strength and front guard and rearward, with all heaven pledged to help and with power waiting to be bestowed. Vigilant angels are appointed to guard and support every step, so that no one who trusts is alone, not even alone in a room, and the humble and contrite are especially ministered to and borne up when they might fail. The same charge covers the mortal saints on earth during the plagues, guarding them so that no plague comes near their dwellings, which gives reason not to fear and would be needless if they were already immortal.
Parents are to pray in faith for God to remain with them and for holy angels to guard themselves and their children, since young and old face daily troubles, temptations, and Satan's power. Morning prayer is to thank God for protection through the night and to ask for angelic care, help, and grace amid the temptations and trials of the day for both parents and children, and evening prayer is to commit travel, sleep, and daily movements to the same watchcare. Jesus sends angels to guard children and youth amid many temptations and to help them resist Satan, and when a family faithfully and prayerfully trains its children even ordinary home life is made sacred through this guarding care. Earnest prayer and living faith secure this protection for the home, the day's journey, and the night's rest.
Much of this guarding through life — watching over travelers, thwarting harmful plans, turning aside danger, and delivering from dangers, snares, and malice of temptations that are never seen — is not recognized until the providences of God are seen clearly in the light of eternity. Angels attend steps day by day against exposure to evil powers and attacks of evil angels, delivering from perils both seen and unseen throughout the ages. Recognizing how safely the path is guarded day by day and hour by hour should awaken gratitude, thanksgiving, praise, cheerfulness, happiness, and strength to think and pray, with God's service acknowledged in every prayer. The promise is to be sought by daily prayer for preparation for His work and for a large bestowal of His Spirit, by thirsting for salvation and special help, by knowing life hid with Christ in God, by desiring nothing on earth beside Him and finding Him the crown of rejoicing, and by feeling miserable when separated from Jesus, since without His grace and special assistance nothing can be done.
The keeping appears in concrete deliverances in which cars are kept on the track and separated in train wrecks, ships are kept on course through storms, and carriages, wagons, horses, and wheels are restrained in accidents. In one train wreck the travelers were preserved by keeping their car on the track and separating it from the cars that crashed, as if an angel had detached it, and this was understood as God sending an angel to preserve life. On a stormy voyage the ship was kept safe on its course by heavenly angels doing God's bidding, without whose protection it might have been swallowed by the sea, showing care extending even to the smallest details of life for those in danger. When destruction was attempted by overturning a wagon, angels surrounded the travelers and one placed an arm beneath them so they would not be injured, and in the same way travelers are kept in storms, sanitarium patients are saved with greater horror prevented, and falls, stairs, limbs, and daily steps are guarded. On a journey the assurance was given that God's angel would go along, sustaining and protecting His servants in their ways.
Angels also accompany the work itself, strengthening preachers, standing by workers on journeys, counseling and directing the cause through chosen human agents so that it does not rest in the hands of any one person on earth. Heavenly angels accompany the Christian physician in the sickroom in care for patients and in delicate, dangerous operations. They attend and guard teachers and students who work earnestly and in faith to sell truth-filled books such as Christ's Object Lessons, and heaven blesses their efforts. They preserve the means solemnly consecrated to reaching souls, guide in planning it, keep it in its work, and protect life from surrounding and even unknown perils, so that nothing less than the loving care of the life-preserving Saviour keeps workers through perils and provides an asylum of safety enabling them to leave places of bitter opposition where life is in danger and to accomplish work elsewhere. That providential guarding of consecrated means comes through presentiment in prayer and through warning dreams given in figure, revealing that money left in unsafe hands is not safe and must be drawn at once and put to its appointed use, so that when failure comes not one dollar is lost. City workers are likewise encouraged by this charge to go forward without discouragement.
Special help is given to the tempted, the humble and contrite, the physically blind in dangers they cannot see, the sick after fervent prayer, children who pray to do right, youth facing temptation, students, and those beset over earthly possessions. When a child prays for strength to resist temptation and tries to do what is right, God directs angels to stand by the child, guide steps in the right path, help resist evil in reliance on God's strength rather than self, and drive back evil powers. Ministering angels protect dedicated children, hear their praise and prayers of faith, and carry their petitions to Christ, who ministers for His people in the heavenly sanctuary and offers His merits on their behalf. A guardian angel attends each person, records words and actions, stays nearby in danger when sincere prayers for help have been offered, prompts a better course, and influences words and actions to keep from leading others into wrongdoing and to draw others to Christ. Jesus gives strength to endure trials and resist temptation, yet His Spirit will not attend those who fail to cultivate kindness, control passion, and submit words and actions to God, while to others angels bring needed memories to mind and turn thoughts toward a better way.
Safety in the conflict with darkness lies in keeping the eyes directed upward when evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut Jesus from view and to draw eyes to darkness unto distrust of God and murmuring against Him. Angels continually spread their wings over the anxious ones to scatter the thick poisonous darkness pressed around them, and they hasten to aid everyone who pleads with strong faith and agonizing cries and struggles with all energy and persevering prayer to resist evil. Rays of light from Jesus then encourage hearts and lighten countenances, clearing away the darkness so that Jesus is not shut from view. God would send every angel from heaven to guard faithful people from being deceived and led away by lying wonders, as they also do their part to prepare for the coming conflict. But angels leave those who are indifferent and careless and make no effort to resist, call upon God, and help themselves, and darkness shuts them in like a thick cloud.