Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Guardian angels

Do we have guardian angels? In Acts 12:15, the Christians tell Rhoda that the being knocking on the door might be Peter’s ‘angel’ (Peter had been imprisoned by Herod). For many years, I believed that we don’t have any such guardian angels and that this was possibly a tale concocted to inspire young children. However, in Matthew 18:10 Jesus Himself says- ‘for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven’. Since the above statement is by Jesus Himself, we needn’t doubt its veracity. We have guardian angels and they hold the responsibility of guarding us as seen in Psalm 91.

Psalm 91 is both powerful and beautiful. Verses 11 and 12 say- ‘For he shall give his angels charge over you to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash they foot against a stone’. But let us rewind to the very first verse: It conveys how an individual who walks with the Lord (‘dwelleth in the secret place of the most High’) is assured of God’s protection. There isn’t any mention (in this verse) of God sending angels but the important part is how such a person abides under the shadow of the Almighty. Shadow? Does this mean that the Creator of this Universe is standing right next to us? Shouldn’t He be in heaven? After all, we are sinners and how could the God Almighty stand next to us, miserable worms, who do things which are contrary to His commandments? No, the fact is that the Lord loves us so much that He is indeed right next to us in such a manner that we are covered by his shadow/shade. This is further emphasized in Psalm 121 where the Lord is said to be our ‘keeper’ i.e protector (the one responsible for our safety and well being). Perhaps this word reminds us of Cain’s question to God- Am I my brother’s keeper? But Psalm 121:5b continues to say ‘the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand’. Doesn’t that make us happy? To know that the Lord (God the Father himself) loves us so much that He ensures that we are safe by standing right next to us! The greatest love indeed!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home