17 Bible Verses About Angels and Protection

Psalm 91:11-12

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Reflection: The promise follows a condition in verses 9-10: “If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you.” In Matthew 4:6 the devil quotes these two verses to Jesus on the highest point of the temple and tells him to throw himself down. Jesus answers, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Psalm 34:7

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

Reflection: The psalm’s heading sets it after David pretended to be insane before Abimelek and was driven away. The verse before speaks of David himself: “This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” Verse 7 widens that to everyone who fears the Lord, with the angel camped around them.

Psalm 35:5-6

“May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.”

Reflection: Psalm 35 opens as a prayer to God: “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me.” David asks the Lord to take up shield and armor against those who seek his life, and in these verses he asks that the angel of the Lord drive them away and pursue them. Here the angel protects by turning on the attackers.

Exodus 23:20

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”

Reflection: God promises Israel an angel to guard them on the way and bring them to the place he has prepared. Verse 21 attaches a warning: “Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.” Verse 23 names the destination, the land of the Amorites, Hittites and the other peoples.

Hebrews 1:14

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

Reflection: The verse closes a chapter that sets angels beside the Son. Verse 13 asks, “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand’?” and verse 14 gives the angels’ place instead: they are servants, sent for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.

Matthew 18:10

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

Reflection: The disciples have asked who is greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus has set a child among them. The “little ones” are defined in verse 6 as “those who believe in me,” and the chapter warns against causing them to stumble. Jesus says their angels always see the Father’s face; the verse says nothing more about what those angels do.

2 Kings 6:16-17

“‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

Reflection: The king of Aram has sent horses, chariots and a strong force by night to surround Dothan and capture Elisha, and his servant sees the army at dawn. The word angel does not appear; what the servant sees, once Elisha prays for his eyes to be opened, is the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Exodus 14:19

“Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,”

Reflection: With the Egyptian army behind Israel at the sea, the angel of God moves from the front of Israel’s camp to the rear, and the pillar of cloud moves with him, between the two armies. Verse 20 says the cloud gave darkness to one side and light to the other, “so neither went near the other all night long.” The crossing of the sea follows in verse 21.

Genesis 19:16

“When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.”

Reflection: The “men” are the two angels who arrived at Sodom in verse 1. At dawn they told Lot to take his family and leave before the city was punished, and when he hesitated they took him, his wife and his daughters by the hand. The verse gives the reason: “the Lord was merciful to them.”

Daniel 3:28

“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.’”

Reflection: Nebuchadnezzar speaks after seeing four men walking in the furnace, “and the fourth looks like a son of the gods” (verse 25). He calls the fourth figure God’s angel. Before they were thrown in, the three men had told him their God was able to deliver them, “but even if he does not,” they would not worship his image (Daniel 3:17-18).

Daniel 6:22

“My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

Reflection: Daniel calls this out from the den at dawn, in answer to the king’s question whether his God had been able to rescue him. He gives his innocence before God and before the king as the reason the lions did not hurt him, and verse 23 adds that no wound was found on him “because he had trusted in his God.”

Acts 5:19-20

“But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people all about this new life.’”

Reflection: The high priest and the Sadducees had put the apostles in the public jail out of jealousy. The angel opens the doors at night and sends them back to the temple courts to speak to the people, and at daybreak they do so, while the Sanhedrin sends to the jail for them.

Acts 12:7-8

“Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals.’ And Peter did so. ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,’ the angel told him.”

Reflection: Herod had already put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword (Acts 12:2), and Peter was held between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while the church prayed for him. Peter thought he was seeing a vision until the angel left him in the street. Then he said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches.”

1 Kings 19:5-7

“Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’”

Reflection: Elijah had run for his life and, under a broom bush, asked to die: “I have had enough, Lord.” The angel does not mention his enemies. He touches him twice, gives him bread and water, and says the second time, “the journey is too much for you.” Verse 8 says Elijah, strengthened by that food, traveled forty days and forty nights to Horeb.

Matthew 4:11

“Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

Reflection: The angels come at the end of forty days of fasting and three temptations. In the second temptation the devil quoted Psalm 91:11-12 and told Jesus to throw himself from the temple; Jesus refused, and here, after the devil leaves, angels attend him.

Luke 22:43

“An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

Reflection: Jesus has knelt a stone’s throw from his disciples and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” The angel strengthens him, and the cup is not taken away: verse 44 says that in anguish he prayed more earnestly, his sweat like drops of blood.

Acts 27:23-24

“Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’”

Reflection: Paul says this aboard a ship in a storm, after neither sun nor stars had appeared for many days and everyone had given up hope. The angel’s message covers more than Paul: “God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” In verse 22 Paul tells them that no one will be lost, “only the ship will be destroyed.”