◄ Psalm 91:11 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
"his Angels."
Psalm 91:11-13
S. Conway
The mention of them is introduced here in order to show how the blessed promise of ver. 10 is fulfilled. The angels are continually spoken of in Scripture. First of all, we read of them in connection with the story of Hagar, and from thence onward the pages of Holy Scripture make perpetual references to them. It, therefore, cannot but be important to us that we should understand, so far as we may, what is written concerning them. For we cannot think that their work and ministry are finished, and that now they have nothing to do with us, nor we with them. We feel sure that the reverse is the truth. True, there has been much of mere imagination in the representations that have been given of angels by poets, painters, and preachers alike. They have been the makers of men's common ideas concerning the angels, and have caused not a little misunderstanding and loss thereby. But a careful study of the Scriptures will show that truth on this confessedly mysterious and difficult theme is both attainable and full of profit. Consider -

I. THE REALITY OF THE ANGELIC WORLD.

1. This the Scriptures plainly assert. They are spoken of there in clear and positive manner, as to their high dignity, their sanctity, power, blessedness, their heavenly home, their employments, vast numbers, and immortality. All this is told of the holy angels. But there are evil ones likewise, who are represented as serving under their prince, Satan, as the holy angels under God. They are evil, wretched, full of malignity, and reserved foreverlasting punishment.

2. And this teaching is to be regarded as literally true. It is not, as some have said, an accommodation to the popular beliefs of the day.

3. Analogy also confirms this. Is not all life, from the lowest zoophyte up to the most gifted of the sons of men, one continual ascent? But why should the progression halt with man? Why should there not be an ascent beyond, as there is up to, ourselves? All analogy leads us to think there is, and to be on the look out and expectation for orders of beings that may span the vast distance that separates man from God. And the Bible confirms this.

II. THEIR NATURE.

1. Who and what are they? Much has been assumed concerning them; as that they existed long before the creation of man; that they are altogether different in nature from man; that some of them kept not their first estate, etc.

2. But may it not be that angels are perfected men? The poet Young thus writes -

"Why doubt we, then, the glorious truth to sing? Angels are men of a superior kind; Angels are men in lighter habit clad, High o'er celestial mountains winged in flight, And men are angels loaded for an hour, Who wade this miry vale, and climb with pain And slippery step the bottom of the steep." Why may not this be true? For there is no being higher in nature than man, except God himself. If angels be different from men, why, then, were men created at all? If, without all man's toil and pain, beings existed who could render to God the love, worship, and service he desired, wherefore man's much sorrow and misery? But if, on the other hand, it be true that there is no other entrance on the angelic state than by this weary life of ours, the mournful mystery of life has some light shed upon it. And angels are often called men, and appeared as such. And our Lord said that in the resurrection we shall be as angels; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (12) we are said to have come to myriads of angels, and the following sentence shows that they are the same as "the Church of the Firstborn, and the spirits of just men made perfect." And the quotation by the writers of 2 Peter and Jude, from the same passage in the apocryphal and unauthoritative Book of Enoch, need not stand in the way of the reasonable and helpful belief we have been maintaining. Milton - that mighty manufacturer of so much mischievous mistake - is the real author of men's common beliefs about the angelic world. And they who hold such beliefs lose much.

III. THEIR OFFICE. They are said, in these verses:

1. To have charge of the people of God. "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth," etc.?

2. They keep God's servants in all their ways. Perhaps by suggesting thoughts, purposes, and resolves. But we do not certainly know. If we could see them at their work, we should be in peril of worshipping them, as St. John was.

3. They sustain them, upbear them, so that not alone by great ills, but by little ones, they shall be unhurt.

4. They give victorious power over all kinds of spiritual foes (ver. 13).

IV. THE HELP THAT THESE TRUTHS RENDER.

1. The heavenly world and its employments become more real to us. We know that our work shall not be perpetual singing, but high, holy, blessed service.

2. The mystery of life is lightened. We see whither we are going, and wherefore here we have to suffer.

3. One chief pain of death is lessened. For we are not debarred from rendering service to those we leave behind. The thought that we can no more help our loved ones is one of the pains of death. But by this blessed teaching it is taken away. - S.C.

Biblical Illustrator
For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalm 91:11-13
God's angels helping good men on earth
Homilist.
I. GOD HAS ANGELS AT HIS COMMAND.

1. Spiritual existences.

2. Full of vitality.

3. Mighty in power.

4. Rich in knowledge.

5. Countless in number.

6. Vast in variety.Spirits differ from spirits as plant from plant, star from star. They differ in nature, in the kind and measure of faculty. In experience. Some are older and more intelligent than others. In office. From Gabriel, who "stands in the presence of God," down to that spirit next in degree to man. There are principalities and powers amongst them.

II. GOD EMPLOYS HIS ANGELS TO HELP GOOD MEN ON EARTH.

1. Human life has many "ways." There is the way of the boy, the way of the man, the way of the husband, the way of the father, the way of the merchant, the citizen, the statesman.

2. These "ways" are perilous. There are stumbling-stones at every step; temptations to infidelity, insensibility, dishonesty, falsehood, revenge, etc.

3. God sends His angels to help the good in all these "ways." They impart —

(1)Sustaining power.

(2)Conquering power.

III. CONCLUSION. If angels are thus engaged in helping good men on earth, the following things may be inferred: —

1. That there must be some method by which they can communicate with man. What is this method? What is that which is the great sustaining and conquering power in man? Thought. Thought makes the man. May not angels have the power of suggesting thoughts — strengthening and all-conquering thoughts?

2. That the spiritual interests of man must be supremely important.

3. That it is consonant with the highest dignity to minister to the lowly.

4. That it is a profound disgrace to man that he should feel so little interest in the spiritual concerns of his brother. If angels are thus concerned for us, should we not be doubly so for ourselves?

5. That the humblest Christians may take courage.

(Homilist.)

Angelic protection in appointed ways
I. THERE ARE WAYS WHICH ARE NOT IN THE PROMISE. "All thy ways" are mentioned; but some tracks are not to be followed by children of God, and are not their ways.

1. Ways of presumption. In these men court danger, and, as it were, defy God (Matthew 4:6).

2. Ways of sin, dishonesty, lying, vice, worldly conformity, etc. We have no permit to bow in the house of Rimmon (Ephesians 5:12).

3. Ways of worldliness, selfishness, greed, ambition. The ways by which men seek personal aggrandizement are usually dark, and crooked, and are not of God (Proverbs 28:22; 1 Timothy 6:9).

4. Ways of pride, self-conceit, boastful promisings, pretended perfection, etc. "Pride goeth before destruction."

5. Ways of will worship, wilfulness, obstinacy, fancy, day-dreaming absurd impulse, etc. (Jeremiah 2:18).

6. Ways of erroneous doctrine, novel practice, fashionable ceremonial, flattering delusion, etc. (2 Timothy 3:5).

II. THERE ARE WAYS IN WHICH SAFETY IS GUARANTEED.

1. The way of humble faith in the Lord Jesus.

2. The way of obedience to Divine precepts.

3. The way of childlike trust in providential guidance.

4. The way of strict principle, and stern integrity.

5. The way of consecrated service, and seeking God's glory.

6. The way of holy separation, and walking with God.

III. THESE WAYS LEAD US INTO VARIED CONDITIONS.

1. They are changeful and varied: "all Thy ways."

2. They are sometimes stony with difficulty: "foot against a stone."

3. They may be terrible with temptation.

4. They may be mysteriously trying. Devils may throng the path — only to be met by holy angels.

5. They are essentially safe, while the smooth and easy roads are perilous.

IV. BUT WHILE WALKING IN THEM ALL BELIEVERS ARE SECURE.

1. The Lord Himself concerns Himself about them: — "He shall give His angels charge over thee." He will personally command those holy beings to have an eye to His children.

2. Mysterious agencies protect them: angels bear them up in their hands, as nurses carry little children. Wonderful tenderness and power! Angels acting as servants to men!

3. All things are on their side, both visible and invisible. Command is laid on all to protect the saints (Psalm 71:3).

4. Each one is personally watched over. "Charge over thee to keep thee" (Isaiah 42:6; Genesis 28:15).

5. That watchfulness is perpetual — "All thy ways" (Psalm 121:3, 4).

6. This guard also confers honour. How noble a thing to have the courtiers of heaven for a corps de garde!

7. All this comes to them by Jesus, whose the angels are, and whom they serve (Isaiah 43:4).

V. LESSONS.

1. See how the lowest employment is consistent with the highest enjoyment: — Keeping guard over the Lord's stumbling children is no discredit to angels.

2. How cheerfully we should watch over others! How vigorously should we hold them up whenever it is in our power. To cast off a stumbling brother is not angelic, but the reverse.

3. How safe we ought to feel, how fully trustful we ought to be. Alexander slept soundly, "for," said he, "Parmenio wakes."

4. How holy we should be with such holy ones for watchers! Great privileges involve heavy responsibilities.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Angels, Care, Charge, Chargeth, Guard, Messengers, Wherever
Outline
1. The state of the godly
3. Their safety
9. Their habitation
11. Their servants
14. Their friend; with the effects of them all.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 91:11

     5480   protection
     8404   commands, in OT
     9412   heaven, worship and service

Psalm 91:1-13

     5058   rest, spiritual

Psalm 91:1-15

     5942   security

Psalm 91:9-12

     5511   safety

Psalm 91:9-13

     1330   God, the provider

Psalm 91:11-12

     1416   miracles, nature of
     4111   angels, servants
     5330   guard
     5698   guardian

Library
March 18. "Neither Shall any Plague Come Near Thy Dwelling" (Ps. Xci. 10).
"Neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling" (Ps. xci. 10). We know what it is to be fireproof, to be waterproof: but it is a greater thing to be proof against sin. It is possible to be so filled with the Spirit and presence of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor; that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes; that all the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

September 26. "I Will be with Him in Trouble" (Ps. Xci. 15).
"I will be with Him in trouble" (Ps. xci. 15). The question often comes, "Why didn't He help me sooner!" It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the situation and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him." He must be with you in the trouble first until you grow quiet. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and trustful. Then …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Terror by Night
(Preached in Lent.) PSALM xci. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. You may see, if you will read your Bible, that the night is spoken of in the Old Testament much as we speak of it now, as a beautiful and holy thing. The old Jews were not afraid of any terror by night. They rejoiced to consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars, which he had ordained. They looked on night, as we do, as a blessed time of rest and peace for men, in which the beasts of …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

The Answer to Trust
'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.' --PSALM xci. 14. There are two voices speaking in the earlier part of this psalm: one that of a saint who professes his reliance upon the Lord, his Fortress; and another which answers the former speaker, and declares that he shall be preserved by God. In this verse, which is the first of the final portion of the psalm, we have a third voice--the voice of God Himself, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Sheltering Wing
'He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.' --PSALM xci. 4. We remember the magnificent image in Moses' song, of God's protection and guidance as that of the eagle who stirred up his nest, and hovered over the young with his wings, and bore them on his pinions. That passage may possibly have touched the imagination of this psalmist, when he here employs the same general metaphor, but with a distinct and significant difference …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What God Will do for Us
'He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.'--PSALM xci. 15, 16. When considering the previous verses of this psalm, I pointed out that at its close we have God's own voice coming in to confirm and expand the promises which, in the earlier portion of it, have been made in His name to the devout heart. The words which we have now to consider cover the whole range …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Habitation of the Soul
'Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.'--PSALM xci. 9, 10. It requires a good deal of piecing to make out from the Hebrew the translation of our Authorised Version here. The simple, literal rendering of the first words of these verses is, 'Surely, Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge'; and I do not suppose that any of the expedients which have been adopted to modify that translation …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Snare of the Fowler
"Satan, the fowler, who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways." "The prince of the power of this world, the spirit which still worketh in the children of disobedience," is like a fowler, always attempting to destroy us. It was once said by a talented writer, that the old devil was dead, and that there was a new devil now; by which he meant to say, that the devil of old times was a rather different devil from the deceiver of these times. We believe that it is the same evil spirit; but there is a …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Under his Shadow.
A BRIEF SACRAMENTAL DISCOURSE DELIVERED AT MENTONE TO ABOUT A SCORE BRETHREN."He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."--Psalm xci. 1. UNDER HIS SHADOW. I MUST confess of my short discourse, as the man did of the axe which fell into the stream, that it is borrowed. The outline of it is taken from one who will never complain of me, for to the great loss of the Church she has left these lower choirs to sing above. Miss Havergal, last and loveliest …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

The Pinnacle of the Temple.
He was then taken to the pinnacle of the Temple, and the tempter said to him, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; thou art sure of aid by a miracle from God;" and quoted, literally, in application, the words of Psa. xci., 11, 12, ";The angels shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." But Christ arrays against him another passage, which defines the right application of the former: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (Deut., vi., 16.) As if he had …
Augustus Neander—The Life of Jesus Christ in Its Historical Connexion

The Cloister Garden
Gerhard Ter Steegen Ps. xci. 1 How good it is, when weaned from all beside, With God alone the soul is satisfied, Deep hidden in His heart! How good it is, redeemed, and washed, and shriven, To dwell, a cloistered soul, with Christ in heaven, Joined, never more to part! How good the heart's still chamber thus to close On all but God alone-- There in the sweetness of His love repose, His love unknown! All else for ever lost--forgotten all That else can be; In rapture undisturbed, O Lord, to fall …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Evensong
Gerhard Ter Steegen Ps. xci. 4 Take me, Jesus, to Thy breast; Folded close in warmth and rest, Keep me near to Thee; Silenced in the bliss profound Of the love that wraps me round, Every care shall be. Every breath for Thee alone, O my heart's beloved One; Comfort me in sleep. Still deep rest art Thou to Thine, Safely in Thine arms divine Thy beloved keep. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

God's Merciful Guardianship of his People. --Ps. Xci.
God's merciful Guardianship of his People.--Ps. xci. Call Jehovah thy salvation, Rest beneath the Almighty's shade, In his secret habitation Dwell, and never be dismay'd: There no tumult shall alarm thee, Thou shalt dread no hidden snare, Guile nor violence can harm thee In eternal safeguard there. From the sword at noon-day wasting, From the noisome pestilence, In the depth of midnight blasting, God shall be thy sure defence; Fear not thou the deadly quiver, When a thousand feel the blow, Mercy …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Call Jehovah Thy Salvation
[1184]Trust: Felix Mendelssohn, 1840 Psalm 91 James Montgomery, 1822 DOXOLOGY Call Jehovah thy salvation, Rest beneath the Almighty's shade; In his secret habitation Dwell, and never be dismayed. There no tumult can alarm thee, Thou shalt dread no hidden snare; Guile nor violence can harm thee, In eternal safeguard there. God shall charge his angel legions Watch and ward o'er thee to keep: Though thou walk through hostile regions, Though in desert wilds thou sleep. Since, with pure and firm affection, …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

The Foundation of the Monastery Hindered. Our Lord Consoles the Saint.
1. When the matter was in this state--so near its conclusion, that on the very next day the papers were to be signed--then it was that the Father Provincial changed his mind. I believe that the change was divinely ordered--so it appeared afterwards; for while so many prayers were made, our Lord was perfecting His work and arranging its execution in another way. When the Provincial refused us, my confessor bade me forthwith to think no more of it, notwithstanding the great trouble and distress which …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

'Deliver us from Evil'
'But deliver us from evil.'--MATT. vi. 13. The two halves of this prayer are like a calm sky with stars shining silently in its steadfast blue, and a troubled earth beneath, where storms sweep, and changes come, and tears are ever being shed. The one is so tranquil, the other so full of woe and want. What a dark picture of human conditions lies beneath the petitions of this second half! Hunger and sin and temptation, and wider still, that tragic word which includes them all--evil. Forgiveness and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

That There is no Security against Temptation in this Life
"My Son, thou art never secure in this life, but thy spiritual armour will always be needful for thee as long as thou livest. Thou dwellest among foes, and art attacked on the right hand and on the left. If therefore thou use not on all sides the shield of patience, thou wilt not remain long unwounded. Above all, if thou keep not thy heart fixed upon Me with steadfast purpose to bear all things for My sake, thou shalt not be able to bear the fierceness of the attack, nor to attain to the victory …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Christ's Messengers: their Equipment and Work
'After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come. 2. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5. And into whatsoever …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Wilderness: Temptation. Matthew 4:1-11. Mark 1:12, 13. Luke 4:1-13.
The University of Arabia: Jesus' naturalness--the Spirit's presence--intensity, Luke 2:45-51.--a true perspective--- the temptation's path--sin's path--John's grouping, 1 John 2:16.--the Spirit's plan--why--the devil's weakness--the Spirit's leading--a wilderness for every God-used man, Moses, Elijah, Paul. Earth's Ugliest, Deepest Scar: Jesus the only one led up to be tempted--the wilderness--its history, Genesis 13:10-13. 18:16-19:38.--Jesus really tempted--no wrong here in inner response--every …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

The Best Things Work for Good to the Godly
WE shall consider, first, what things work for good to the godly; and here we shall show that both the best things and the worst things work for their good. We begin with the best things. 1. God's attributes work for good to the godly. (1). God's power works for good. It is a glorious power (Col. i. 11), and it is engaged for the good of the elect. God's power works for good, in supporting us in trouble. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27). What upheld Daniel in the lion's den? …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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