6:12 Not . . . against flesh and blood: One of the church’s greatest demands is to discern between the spiritual struggle and other social, personal, and political difficulties. Otherwise, individual believers and groups become too easily detoured, “wrestling” with human adversaries instead of prayerfully warring against the invisible works of hell behind the scenes. Heavenly places recalls earlier references to: 1) spiritual resources available to the church (1:3); 2) Christ’s authority over evil (1:21); 3) the church’s being seated together with her ascended Lord (2:6); 4) the Father’s will to display His wisdom through the church to the confounding of evil powers (3:10). On these grounds this passage announces the church’s corporate assignment to prayer warfare, in order that evil will be driven back and the will of God advanced.

11 The call to "put on" God's armor recalls a similar appeal in 1Th 5:8. This accoutrement is provided by God and modeled on what he wears himself (Isa 11:5; 59:17). It is a complete outfit ("full armor," also v.13). The soldier must be protected from head to foot, and his armor is made up of all the various pieces, both defensive and offensive.

"Stand" is a key word in this passage (cf. vv.13-14). It is a military term for holding on to one's position. The equipment enables the soldier to ward off the attacks of the enemy and to make a stand against him. Before any offensive can be launched, one must first of all maintain his own ground. The fourfold use of "against" stresses the determined hostility confronting the Christian soldier. The commander-in-chief of the opposing forces is the devil himself, the sworn enemy of the church. He is a master of ingenious stratagems and his tactics must not be allowed to catch us unawares. These stratagems probably reflect his deliberate attempts to destroy the unity of Christ's body (3:14-22; 4:1-16, 21) through the invasion of false doctrine and the fomenting of dissension (4:2, 21, 31-32; 5:6).

Psalm 91. Divine wings and guardian angels

Some threats lie in wait for us (3), some sneak up insidiously (3, 6); some are our own dreads, real or imaginary, some reflect hostility (5); some, again, we meet on life’s pathway (12–13). Life is like that. But simple trust brings us into a place of strong defence (2), the personal warmth of divine care, pledged defence (4) and a host of heavenly guardians every step of the way (11). The form in which all this is stated itself serves to affirm our protected status.

A¹

(v 1) Theme stated: sure protection

B¹

(v 2) Personal testimony

C¹

(vs 3–8) Affirmation

B²

(v 9a) Personal testimony

C²

(vs 9b–13) Affirmation

A²

(vs 14–16) Theme confirmed: divine protection

It is a psalm of personal testimony (2, 9) but the matter does not rest there. Testimony may be the product of imagination or of wishful thinking and, in any case, what is true of one person may not necessarily apply to others. But here human testimony is enfolded (1, 14–16) in divine testimony and affirmed by the word of God (3–8, 9–13). The whole is a highly artistic way of expressing a fundamentally important fact: that we are always totally secure. How such a psalm came to be written is a matter of conjecture. Did a troubled individual seek out a prophet who applied the word of God directly to his need and then was privileged to be the agent of the voice of the Lord, or is the whole just the record of individual pondering of a great truth in the light of experience and truth. Here is a psalm for every believer every day.