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It must be a spiritual one, — for "He maketh His angels spirits." It must be very pure, — for they are "the holy ones." Very lofty, — for they "stand before the throne, and always behold God's face." Very powerful, too, they must be, — for "they excel in strength." And very busy they must be, and very humble, — for "each has six wings, and with twain he covers his face, with twain he covers his feet, and with twain he does fly." And very accurate they must be, — for they bear their messages so faithfully. And very unselfish, — for they always give all the glory to God alone. They are not entirely spotless, — for "He chargeth His angels with folly"; and some did once fall. And they never seem to originate anything-they go where they are sent, they say what they are instructed, they do whatever they are told. Neither does their love appear to be so much their own love, as a love with which they are commissioned. And their office is not, for the most part, so much with the souls of men, to convert, or to influence, Or to comfort them, as with the outer circumstances of men — to minister to them in their dangers, in their wants, in their difficulties. And how does "the nature of angels" stand related to our own? Is it higher or lower? Originally, in Eden, I do not know; but I should say the angelic nature was then the lower, because that is said of man which is never said of angels, that he was "made in the likeness of God," and because to man was given what was never given to angels — supremacy and sovereignty over all the works of God. The fallen nature of man is, on the whole, lower. But only a little — "a little lower than the angels." But how is it with man's redeemed and renewed nature? Beyond a doubt, it is above angels; for such as Christ's present glorified nature is, such is that. The angels never sing our song' — theirs is jubilant, but ours is triumphant, their theme is creation, ours is grace; they praise God in His works, we adore and love Him in His Son. And do not you know that we shall "judge angels," and that we shall reign with Christ for ever and ever. We bless God for His holy angels! We bless Him that there is anything so pure and beautiful in His creation for us to think of and to love. We bless Him that we have such presences, so stilling, so assuring, so restful. We bless Him for that incentive to all propriety in our solitary hours — an angel's ear, and an angel's eye. We bless Him for the debts we owe to those ethereal beings, of which we are yet but dimly conscious. We bless Him that they take charge of our daily walk, and our midnight slumbers. live bless Him that He commits it to creatures so lovely to exercise His merciful providences. We bless Him that they ministered so tenderly to their and our dear Lord in the days of His sojourn here, and that now they do all they do for us for that Jesus's sake. We bless Him that they take such pious interest in our spiritual welfare, and rejoice in the tears of which they know that the sadness is joy. We bless Him that those who look on us so kindly do also behold His face. We bless Him that when we come to die, it is they, those heavenly watchers, who shall waft our spirits on their wings to heaven. We bless Him that we with them, and they with us, we shall mingle our songs and our services, and encircle the throne together with our common praise. We bless Him that when Christ, and we with Christ, shall come back again to this earth, we shall be attended by The glory of the holy angels.

(J. Vaughan, M. A.)

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KJV: For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

WEB: For most certainly, he doesn't give help to angels, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham.