This little phrase is found in several places in the Bible. One of my favorite Bible study methods is word studies. Psalm 91 took me to this phrase. I’m trying to memorize the whole chapter. I’ve been successful to memorize two verses at a time. Now the challenge is to be able to say the WHOLE chapter! Maybe I’m too old, but with old age comes time. After caring for my mom 24/7 and intensely caring for her for the past several months, I’m a bit over the top with the time I now have. So, 2023 is the year of memorizing the Bible—something that has fallen through the cracks year after year. (By the way, this was written in February and I’m so thankful to say that I was able to memorize the entire psalm. The little grey cells are not completely dead!)
COMMERCIAL TIME: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/verses-bible-memory/id939461663 is an amazing app to help with Bible memory. I LOVE IT!!! I’ve memorized nearly 20 verses this year because of this app. Check it out. (Sadly, it only works for Apple products, I think.) I’m sure there are others that work just as well. It does take time, but it is so worth it! Those verses pop into my head all day long. Great blessing!
Anyway, Psalm 91:12 (NKJV) is today’s verse:
In [their ]hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Here’s another plug for memorizing: When you read a verse, it’s great but you don’t look at it over and over as you do when you are memorizing. That’s when the phrase, “In their hands” stuck in my brain. In their hands. Whose hands? The angels who have charge over me (V.11).
Angels are sort of like sugar in our society: either we indulge too much or we completely cut it out of our lives. Some people overemphasize angels while others completely ignore them. According to this verse, we do have angels who are in charge of our lives. They watch over us and keep us “in their hands.” I don’t know about you, but that is an amazing concept to me! Yes, our Heavenly Father sees everything we do, knows us better than we know ourselves, and keeps us in His care, but somehow, knowing that there’s a heavenly being, someone created by God for the explicit purpose of doing God’s bidding, is such a blessing.
So, where else is this phrase in the Bible? So glad you asked!
- Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which [were] in their hands, and the earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which [was] by Shechem.
What’s in your hand? Are they filled with the gods of this world? Dear reader, throw them away and pick up God’s Word!
- Deuteronomy 1:25
They also took [some] of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought [it] down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘[It is] a good land which the LORD our God is giving us.’
Here are the 12 spies bringing back proof of the wonders of Canaan—their promised land. Are you showing forth all the treasures of being a child of God? Do others see the joy of the Lord in your life even in the midst of trials? Nothing will speak louder to this world than that!
- Judges 7:19
So Gideon and the hundred men who [were] with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that [were] in their hands.
Can you even imagine this? They are the selected 300 whom God is going to use to destroy their enemies. Now they stand ready for battle, holding trumpets and pitchers lit with oil! No swords or shields or bows or arrows! Can you face today with God’s Ephesians 6 weapons: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and, above all, prayer?
- 1 Samuel 21:13
So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard.
Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! David is running from Saul and is with the king of the Philistines looking for shelter. It didn’t go the way he planned, so he’s pretending to be mad. Lesson? This is a low point in David’s life. He started trusting himself and forgot the promises of God. We may have to do something even crazier than this when that happens! TRUST GOD! I’ve never been running for my life, so I’m not condemning David. Perhaps this was God’s way of helping David to escape. (I wonder if his guardian angels were chuckling.)
- 1 Kings 20:6
‘but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, [that] whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put in their hands and take [it.]’
YIKES! How strong is your enemy? Do you feel threatened by them? This is Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria coming after King Ahab, yes, that wicked king of Israel. Even in his wickedness, he has some shining moments and this is one of them. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is spoken by King Ahab: So the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’ Keep in the battle, dear Christian!
- Ezra 5:8
Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the temple of the great God, which is being built with heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.
Love, love, LOVE this verse!!! Can you imagine what we could accomplish when we work together? Please, I’m not talking about holding hands with apostates, I’m talking about born-again believers working together for the common goal of glorifying Jesus Christ and leading others to Him. These captive Israelites who returned with Nehemiah were ready to work. Trials will do that to you if we allow them to—become better, not bitter.
- Luke 6:1
Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate [them,] rubbing [them] in [their] hands.
Even when you are doing mundane tasks, remember the hands that hold you.
Revelation 7:9
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
What a glorious promise. We will hold palm branches in our hands and praise the Lamb who bore out sins. What a glorious thought to carry us through these days as we walk the Christian walk.
So much to learn from this little phrase, “in their hands.” But perhaps the most remarkable verse which talks about hands is John 10:28-29
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father’s hand.
God, the Father AND the Son hold us in their hands and nothing can remove us from that blessed place. We have eternal life, we will never perish, and no one can touch us there without our Father’s consent! Hallelujah!
So, what is trying to cause you to doubt our Father’s care and protection?
Do you have something special in your hands, a treasure from God?
Or, perhaps, you have a special place where you find the comfort of being “in His hands” that you’d like to share.
Beyond Common Sense 