The cry of your heart has ascended to the throne of the Most High, and He who neither slumbers nor sleeps has heard your petition. You have asked for angels to be posted at your windows and doors, and indeed, the promise stands sure: the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him. Yet fix your hope not on the sentinels, but upon the Captain of the host. We read of Jacob at Mahanaim, where the angels of God met him, and he saw a double camp of heavenly warriors. But what are angels? They are only God’s pages to run upon His errands. To see their Lord is far better; the angels of God are not to be compared with the God of angels. Delight yourself in this: your safety lies not in the presence of angels, but in the presence of God your Savior. He is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before His glory. Should the Throne of heaven fail, then might a saint perish, but no sooner.
I perceive a trembling in your soul, a holy anxiety for your household. This is well, for we are surrounded by evil hearts and an adversary who prowls like a roaring lion. Yet remember that the angels did not minister to our Lord in the heat of His wilderness duel. They came after the tempter departed. Why? Lest they share the honor of the victory. So too, in your trial, the Lord may allow the conflict to press sore upon you, that when deliverance comes, you will know it is His own right hand and His holy arm that have gotten Him the victory. He may send His human messengers with a word of cheer, or He may stir up in your own spirit a renewed dependence upon His grace. Cry to Him, the infinite Friend, to keep you from the machinations of the adversary. Prayer is the weapon that routs the powers of darkness; let the walls of your house be thickly lined with it.
While you look to the battlements of your home, begin at home in your faith. Let the good hand of the Lord be upon you as you teach your family and instruct your household in the way of God. Every man built before his own house when Jerusalem’s walls were raised; do you the same. Far too many professing believers are busy organizing committees for the world’s conversion while their own children are perishing for lack of holy example and earnest entreaty. Let your home be a sanctuary of prayer, a fountain of weeping for the lost, and a place where the gospel is not only spoken but lived. When you plead the blood of Jesus over your doorposts, let there be a corresponding scent of His presence in every room, for holiness frightens devils and attracts the smile of God.
Has not the Lord spared you? What a mystery! When angels transgressed, He spared them not; He banished them from His presence at once, never entering into parley or extending terms of mercy. Yet to you, poor helplessly ruined sinner, He has spoken peace through the blood of the everlasting covenant. You are not an unfallen angel; you have an evil heart within you, and yet the Lord invites you to sweet communion. Therefore, let holy gratitude be your shield. Go forth from your guarded home full of the Spirit of God, preaching the word and doing good, just as our Master did after the angels ministered to Him. May it be said of your household, when the victory is won, and all storms are past: “Servants of Christ, well done; enter your rest with joy.” The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Until then, resting in His wise and able keeping, let your soul make her boast in the Lord.