SURROUNDED AND SAFE

“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:7).

A few weeks ago I wrote about “comfort food” and how the Word of God brings comfort to us in time of need. I referred to those passages of Scripture that become “oases” of comfort to us, the ones we find ourselves returning to over and over because of the comforting/healing/encouraging that we find there.

This past week I found myself returning to one of the passages that I referred to in the aforementioned article, one of my personal “comfort” passages. I went to Psalm 34 and began to draw on the wonderful healing and strengthening ministry of this precious psalm.

David wrote this psalm at a time of tremendous pressure in his life. His popularity with the people had caused King Saul to become insanely jealous, so jealous that he tried to kill David. David fled with Saul’s mercenaries in hot pursuit and his flight took him into the territory of the Philistines, who were Israel’s mortal enemies. While Saul was jealous of David, the Philistines were distrustful and wanted nothing to do with him. So David fled from them and ended up hiding in a cave where this psalm was written.

David may have been rejected and his life threatened but he knew that God loved him. As he contemplated God’s love, out of his heart flowed this amazing psalm that begins, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

Doesn’t really sound like someone who has let pressure get the best of him, does it?

As I drank in these encouraging words, my whole outlook on life began to change. I got to verse 7 and the words of the verse just seemed to come alive through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I knew God was speaking comfort and peace to me through this portion of His Word“. 

"The angel of the Lord”.  We don’t know exactly what David meant when he used the phrase, “The angel of the Lord.” Was he referring to God’s presence surrounding him or was he referring to angels sent by God to protect him? Both of these are true. Psalm 91 tells us that God protects us and 2 Kings 6:17 is part of the amazing story of Elisha’s servant seeing the vast armies of angels that are around God’s people.

“The angel of the Lord encamps around.” We don’t use the words “encamps around” in our everyday vocabulary. The simple meaning is “completely surrounded.” I think this is important to understand. This verse is saying that we are totally surrounded by God’s protection.

This protection is not offered to everyone who claims to be a child of God. The next phrase in the verse tells us that it is available only to those who “fear Him.” The word fear means “to show respect and reverence.”

The fear of the Lord is the trigger that releases the protection of the Lord. No reverence—no respect—means no protection. It doesn’t mean that the person who claims to be a Christian but shows little or no respect for the standards of Christian behavior as outlined in Scripture, is not saved. But it does mean that he or she will not be living in the blessing of the Lord as they should be.

When the Jewish nation was in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, they had very strict instructions on how their “camps” should be set up as they traveled. The Tabernacle was always in the center of the camp and then the tribes were aligned in a square around the Tabernacle (where the presence of the Lord dwelt).

The picture of the camp is a wonderful metaphor of our spiritual life and journey. We know that we are on a journey and that our permanent dwelling is not here but in heaven. While we wait for that day to arrive, we are doing His pleasure here and we are under His protection throughout the journey. God is the center of our life and all that we do. Because we have established our camp according to His instructions, we know we are surrounded by His protection, and therefore sin and evil cannot penetrate.

Elisha’s servant went outside one morning and saw that Elisha’s dwelling was surrounded by the army of Syria who had come to take him captive. The servant cried out in fear, “What are we going to do?” Elisha responded, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than they who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16) and then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he might see.” The Lord opened the eyes of the servant and he saw the vast army of angels that surrounded Elisha’s home. The angel of the Lord was “encamped around” Elisha’s home!

“Please, Lord, open our eyes of understanding that we are comforted with the encamping of the angel of the Lord around our life.”