Surrounded By God

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him.” (Ps 34:7-8 AV)

This is an amazing statement.  The angel of the LORD is one particular angel as opposed to one of many.  We know this because if it were one of many the word ‘a’ would have been used rather than ‘the’.  This means that all those who are saints of God by Christ Jesus have the same angel who encampeth he or she round about.  We have to be careful here.  God does not promise that we will be trouble-free.  Peter tells us that if Christlikeness is our goal, then persecution is sure to come.  There are consequences for sin.  Disease and death happen to all.  The angel of the LORD does not keep us from trials and temptations.  We are not promised a trouble-free life.  Rather, the promise is for deliverance.  This means the trouble must come.  There can be no deliverance from trouble that is not real.  What struck me is that God has provided His angel, also known as Angel, to encampeth round about the saint as he or she walks through life and will eventually deliver him or her from it all!  The Angel of the LORD is with us through thick and thin.

Jesus is the Angel of the LORD seen in the O.T.  He is present with Israel throughout their wilderness wanderings.  He arrives during times of deep testing.  God never left Israel alone, and He will not leave us either.  Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts.  He has given the third part of the trinity to guide us, teach us, convict us, encourage us, and assist us in praying to the Father.  The promise above is an absolute one born from the lips of someone who lived it.  David spent thirteen years on the run from Saul.  He spent many evenings is the wilderness under the stars and in caves.  He endured close calls, his own tribe turning on him, and those who did follow abandoned him.  David also survived an attempt at insurrection by his own son.  God did not stop these things from coming.  He required that David endure through them.  But He did deliver him!  He survived.  He got through the hardest times of life because the Angel of God never left him!  Never.

We have the same assurance.  There is a common debate as to the reality of guardian angels.  What form they are I refuse to debate.  What I can say is that the Angel of the LORD encampeth me round about.  If we do have guardian angels, they are supplemental to the presence of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit!  The comforting thing is that no matter where we are in life or what we may face, He has every angle covered.  That is what the phrase ‘encampeth me round about’ means.  It means there is no place where He is not.  Where we are, where we might be, and where we will eventually be includes the presence of the Angel of God!  We will be delivered.  The end is sure.  The goal is certain.  Praise be to the LORD!