“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
– Psalm 91:11
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you have fears? Do you fear the sound of thunder? Do you fear spiders, snakes and/or mice? Do you fear being in cramped, enclosed spaces? An OC International mission leader one day asked your grandpaa if had fears. Your grandpaa – without thinking, said no. From the moment that your grandpaa said that he has no fears, your grandpaa knew that what he had just said was not true. Your grandpaa’s immediate reaction to the question that he had been asked by an OC International mission leader if he had fears was to communicate to the OC International mission leader that your grandpaa was fearless. Your grandpaa wishes still today that just as soon as he realized that he had just told a lie when he told the OC International mission leader that he has no fears, that he had then told the OC International leader that he fears heights, fears being criticized, fears losing control of what is happening around him, fears . . . all guys, gals and kids have fears. Do you think that having fears is a good thing or a bad thing? What do you think keeps a guy, gal or kid from doing something that may result in the guy, gal or kid getting punished or being injured or even worse – such as a kid sassing or talking back to his or her dad or ma who is correcting an inappropriate or unacceptable behavior or action thinking that he or she will not be punished, such as a guy or gal nonchalantly going to a part of a city where it is known that there is a lot of crime thinking that he or she will not get robbed, such as a kid or a guy or gal brazenly going out on a pond or lake that has recently frozen over thinking that falling through the ice will not happen to him or her, such as . . . what do you think keeps a guy, gal or kid from doing something that may have him or her using in a greater way his or her God-given hardwired gifting, talents, passion, etc. – such as being willing to speak in front of a large groups of guys, gals and kids, being willing to meet new guys, gals and kids, being willing to change from an uncomplicated job to a challenging job, being willing . . .
The psalm song writer who scribed Psalm 91 may have at one time lived with fears. This psalm song writer was probably a Levi tribal clan priest or guy who had assigned duties in the temple of God that Solomon had seen to the building of in the city of Jerusalem. This psalm song writer scribed his psalm song as a glowing testimony to the unequivocal security that guys, gals and kids will always have when they devotedly put their trust in God. Through his psalm song, this psalm song writer was able to give his godly temple worshippers – because of their trust in God, words of assurance. This psalm song writer identified four life threats which may have been causing consternation or fear in the lives of the guys who went to the temple of God to worship. Guys may have had a fear of what might happen in the dark of night. Guys may have had a fear of what might take place during the light of day. The context of these fears may have had to do with the ongoing warring that seemed to have been always taking place in the land that God gave to His special chosen guy and gals to always to have as their very own land to live in if . . . guys may have had a fear of the pestilences that skulked about in the dark of night. Guys may have had a fear of the plagues that did not fear the light of day. The context of these fears probably had to do with having had seen fields destroyed by locusts and lives ended by diseases. The psalm song author had an answer for the fears that guys, gals and kids have. Verse 11 has the answer, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Your grandpaa – from this verse, understands that God always has an angel protecting him – just as God was always ready to protect His specially chosen guys and gals against lions and cobras in the time when this psalm song writer lived. Through the writer of this psalm song, God promised His specially chosen guys and gals who were faithfully communicating their love for Him that He will always safeguard and rescue them. God – through the write of this psalm song, promised His specially chosen guys and gals who were obediently conveying their love for Him that He will always be their shield, rampart, shelter, refuge and fortress.
So – how often have you thought about the fact that there is a God-assigned angel watching your every move? Your grandpaa can tell you that it is very easy for him to think that there is no one watching him – when in reality, your grandpaa is being watched all the time by a ‘guardian’ angel as well as by God. When your grandpaa finds himself thinking about the times when something really problematic or awful could have happened to him – such as when your grandpaa was nearly struck by a taxicab in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, when your grandpaa was not stopped and robbed by highway bandits on a Guatemalan back road when other vehicles were being stopped and the guys and gals in these vehicles robbed, when your grandpaa believes a bullet struck an inch or so right above the driver’s side window of the van that your grandpaa was driving about ten weeks ago on a Guatemala highway, when . . . your grandmaa and grandpaa are very thankful that their Almighty Heavenly Father has lovingly covered them with His wings and kept them safe from all the dangers that they know and do not know about that have confronted them.
Psalm 91 (989)