For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Psalm 91 promises an unseen escort to anyone who shelters with the Most High. The devil later quoted this verse to Jesus and cut it short, which raises the two questions below: whose protection is this, and on what terms does it hold?
An escort for a hostile road
Commentators read the surrounding verses as spoken to Christ in His life on earth, with heaven's resources placed at His disposal for the journey.
Hamilton SmithMoreover, the resources of heaven are available for Him throughout His earthly pathway. The angels are charged to keep Him in all His ways.
The reason for the guard is the state of the world He walked through.
F W GrantSo even here heaven opens to Him. He is in a hostile world, and must have an escort; and angels are charged concerning Him, to keep Him in all His ways. The world He walked through was in disorder, and its events might look random. Those blessed feet had to be kept from harm.
Real protection, until one hour
One writer follows the promise through the Gospel accounts. Enemies tried to kill Jesus again and again, and failed — until the cross.
J T MawsonHe had walked a rough road. But in all His ways God had given His angels charge over Him. They had carried Him in their hands, so that He would never strike His foot against a stone. So although His enemies hated Him bitterly, they could not hurt Him. Once they led Him to the edge of the cliff their town stood on. They meant to throw Him down into the depths below. But He walked straight through the middle of them and went on His way unharmed... No hatred, from men or from demons, had been able to break through the unseen ring of angels. But for this terrible hour God withdrew that protection.
The four words the tempter cut
The devil urged Jesus to throw Himself down from the top of the temple. He quoted this verse aloud, but left off its last words. One writer shows what that cut did.
W T TurpinThe tempter's aim here was to separate two things God always puts together: the end, and the way to reach it... Satan separates them here. He separates the end from the way by leaving out of the psalm he quotes the very words that make up the way to the end. What were those words? "To guard you in all your ways."
Another writer notes that Satan also skipped the next verse, for a different reason.
L M GrantWhen Satan tempted the Lord, he said nothing about the next verse: "You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot" (v. 13). Satan knew that the lion, the cobra, the young lion and the serpent all stood for himself. No wonder he ignored such a verse!
Trust, not a test
Jesus answered with a different line of Scripture. His answer shows what it means to put God to the test.
William KellySatan tampered with the plain written word, in its letter and in its spirit. After "to guard you" he left out "in all your ways."... And what was the Lord's answer? "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." The true Israelite does not need to put God to the test. If you suspect a thief is working for you, you may mark a coin to see whether he steals it. Am I going to set a test like that for God, to see whether He will keep His word?
Angels in the service of believers
The verse is not only about Christ. Writers link it to the hidden service angels keep giving to believers.
L M GrantThis shows the ministry of angels. They do not serve us in spiritual things, for the Spirit of God does that. They care for the daily needs of believers (Heb. 1:14), and here for the needs of the Lord Jesus Himself.
God does not tell us how that service works.
A J PollockWe are not told how, except that they protect us through God's ordering of everyday events. Details would open the door to the imagination of unbalanced minds. Instead we are left with this great comfort. Angels serve us, unseen and unnoticed, in the way we need, and God directs them in His love and wisdom.
Where the promise reaches
The missing words carry the practical point. God promises protection along His road, not along ours.
C. H. MackintoshWe can always count on God's protecting hand when we are walking in the path of duty. But we may be walking a path of our own choosing. We may be seeking our own pleasure, our own interest, our own ends. Then to talk of counting on God would be wicked presumption.
Summary
- Ways — the promise carries a road with it. Angels guard you "in all your ways," and the ways in view are God's, not self-chosen ones.
- Escort — Christ walked a hostile world with a heavenly guard. Enemies could not touch Him until the appointed hour.
- Omission — Satan quoted the verse but cut the words about ways. That splits the promised end from the path to it.
- Test — Jesus refused to stage a rescue to prove God's word. Faith trusts God instead of setting traps for Him.
- Comfort — angels still serve believers in daily matters, unseen and unexplained. That comforts the obedient, and gives no cover for presumption.