Guard

“For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways”.   Psalm 91:11

Guard  – This word (shamar) in all its forms is used more than 400 times in the Old Testament.  Its basic meaning is to watch over with great care.  It is used to describe actions of the night watch over a city and the careful tending of a garden.  Most frequently, the verb describes rigorous adherence and adoration for God’s laws and covenants.  This word carried great power.  It was not just about ritual compliance or perfunctory observance.  It expresses a deep and abiding concern that God’s commandments form the very fabric of life.  The word is expanded to scenes of tending a flock of sheep, watching a gate and even showing respectful consideration for another person and for God Himself. 

When God gives His angels charge over us, this is no small matter.  Their charge from God is no less sacred than the admonition of guard the Law.  God’s very character is expressed in His Law.  Ordered, just and true, it is the foundation of Man’s relationship to Him, and the reason that Christ came to die for us.  This is a very big deal.  The fact that angels exercise divinely ordered care over us only demonstrates how uniquely important every one of us is to Him.  Think about it.  God actually enlists spiritual beings to watch over you and me.  They are there as the soldiers of the night, protecting us.  They are there in moments of trial, directing us.  They tend to our souls like professional gardeners.  They nourish us like shepherds.  Today, at this very moment, someone is watching over you – and God told him to do it!