Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word (Psalm 103:20).
We are not alone. Not only do we have the Spirit of God to enable us and help us from within, but we also have the help of the angels of God from without.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them (Psalm 34:7). For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11-12).
In Genesis 18, angels appeared to Abraham, and reminded him of the promise of God. They also warned Him of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 19, angels came to remove Lot and his family from the doomed city of Sodom. An angel appeared to Gideon in Judges 6 as he threshed wheat behind a wine press. The angel delivered a message from God that changed his life.
An angel helped Daniel:
Daniel 10:11-12 (NLT) – And the man (angel) said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.(12) Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. (13) But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.
An angel helped Jesus’ mother Mary:
Luke 1:26-33 (NLT) – In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, (27) to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. (28) Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” (29) Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! (31) You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. (32) He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. (33) And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
An angel helped Joseph:
Matthew 1:18-21 (NLT) – This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. (19) Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. (20) As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. (21) And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Angels appeared to Jesus during His wilderness temptations and when He prayed just before He went to the cross and helped Him:
Matthew 4:11 (NLT) – Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Luke 22:41-44 (NLT) – He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, (42) “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (43) Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. (44) He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
An angel helped Paul when he was on a ship during a storm:
Acts 27:21-25 (NLT) – No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. (22) But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. (23) For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, (24) and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ (25) So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.
An angel appeared to Mary Magdalene:
John 20:11-14 (NLT) – Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. (12) She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. (13) “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” (14) She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
An angel delivered Peter from prison:
Acts 12:6-10 (NLT) – The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. (7) Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. (8) Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. (9) So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. (10) They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.
I could go on and on with illustrations from the Bible of angels helping God’s people, Old Testament and New. Here is a question. Did they suddenly stop helping us. Of course they haven’t. But most believers have no idea that there are available to help them in life.
We are admonished to be hospitable to everyone, since some have been unaware that the angels of God had come to check up on them! Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:2 – (NLT).
We have the encouragement from Hebrews 1:14 that angels come to help us in life. A.S. Way’s translation of this verse reads, The angels! – what are they all but servants, spirits who render service to God, who are hour by hour being dispatched on errands of ministration for the help of us who have salvation as our heritage!
Put your angels to work for you today. They are here to assist you in your life of obedience to God. As the verse at the beginning of this blog indicates, they obey the word of God! When you speak the Word, the angels go to work.
As I pray about various things for myself and others, I regularly command the angels of God to go ahead of me and do whatever is necessary for the purpose of God to be fulfilled. In whatever challenge I face, I regularly command the angels of God to help me. I have amazing stories in my own life of how things just happen to work out after I ask for their assistance.
Years ago I started a business to supplement my income while in traveling ministry. Each day I commanded the angels of God to go and cause the business to come my way. The business thrived.
Since I’ve been pastor here in Raleigh, I regularly command the angels of God to go and cause the finances we need for the work of God to come in. We have always been blessed with everything we need!
Of course, everything we do should line up with God’s Word. And there are those who have placed undue prominence on messages from angels and have gone into error. Everything inspired by God must agree and be in line with the Word of God, and will exalt Jesus and God the Father, not the human! But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!
Keep God’s Word first place in your life today, and call on the angels of God to assist you in your life of obedience today. They are waiting to be dispatched!