Under Angelic Protection

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.

–Psalm 91:11–12

God uses angels to minister to believers. They protect us from physical and spiritual harm. Did you know Satan’s strategy is to cause your premature death? He wants to end your witness for Christ. How does God protect you? Psalm 91:11–12 says, “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.” This passage does not promise that you’ll be protected from all harm. But you’re not going to leave this world until God is finished with His plan for you on earth. God uses angels to protect you from premature death.

God also uses angels to protect us spiritually. As we see in Ephesians 6:12, we’re in a spiritual war. Sometimes the oppression, depression, and temptations in our lives are spiritual attacks. For example, in Daniel 10, Daniel was discouraged and in mourning for three weeks. Finally, an angel appeared and said to him, in essence, “I would have been here earlier, but I was delayed by a demonic force.” I don’t understand all of that, but I do understand that God protects us from demonic warfare through the ministry of angels.

Does this mean every Christian has a guardian angel assigned to protect them? Theologians have debated this, but ultimately, whether we each have a guardian angel is not important. As John Calvin said, “If any one does not think it enough to know that all the orders of the heavenly host are perpetually watching for his safety, I do not see what he could gain by knowing that he has one angel as a special guardian.” In other words, the only thing better than having one angel available to us is having a multitude of angels available to us.

Finally, angels minister to us in death. When our time comes, angels usher us into the presence of God. In Luke 16, Jesus told a story about a righteous poor man and an unrighteous rich man. Jesus said, “The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried” (v. 22). I can give you countless examples of Christians facing death who have talked about seeing angels to welcome them into the presence of Jesus. You do not have to fear dying alone. God’s angels will usher you into His presence.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “What Every Christian Should Know About Angels and Demons, Part 1” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1863), 147.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.