An insomniac's Psalm 103: Verse 20

"Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!"

Ah, angels! Good to know they're there. I have come full circle toward the end of my life. When I was a child I was told and believed I had a "guardian angel." Then I grew up and no longer believed. Now I am back to believing I have angels assigned to me. Try to read the Bible and come to any other conclusion; they are everywhere. Hebrews calls them "ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation" (1:14). That would be me.

Still, it would be a fairly useless doctrine if there were nothing I could do about angels, or for angels. But I see now that we are in relationship, and that we human believers in God actually have some responsibility toward angels. They need us to learn how God's plan is unfolding (Ephesians 3:10); they are our partners in service and worship (Revelation 19:10); they can be edified or scandalized by us (1 Corinthians 11:10).

And we learn from them what prompt and joyful obedience looks like, with no whining or grumbling. When God tells us to "rejoice always" (1 Thessalonians 5:16), we have a model in angels, who are depicted as always praising and never glum. When God tells us to be humble (Ephesians 4:2), we have a model in angels who, though mightier than we, stoop to serve us. When God tells us to entrust ourselves to him rather than retaliate (1 Peter 2:23; 3:9), we have a model in angels:

"But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" (Jude 9).

Pastor Bill Johnson of Redding, Calif., says: "It is foolish to worship angels; it is equally foolish to ignore them."

To read "Verse 21," click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.