The Exercise of the Faithful

So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham.
GENESIS 26:17-18
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The Exercise of the Faithful
These things are presented to us as an example and a comfort; for if we have a promise, then it follows without fail that angels are round about us. This is why Psalm 34:7 states: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him." Likewise Psalm 91:11: "He will give His angels charge of you." This they believed firmly and without any doubt. Therefore we, too, if we are godly, should believe in the promise of Him who cannot lie. Then we are surely under His protection, and it is also certain that angels are with us. But if any evil befalls us beyond, or contrary to, this trust and protection, this happens because of a special purpose that is hidden from us and especially from our adversaries. . .. But without a trial we learn nothing and make no progress. For this is the warfare and the exercise of Christians through which we learn that we are under the protection of the angels, and that although we are plagued by severe and difficult trials, yet they do us no harm. This is our theology. It is not learned easily or suddenly; but we must meditate constantly on the Law and stand in battle array against the devil, who tries to draw us away from the study of the Word and to make our faith weak.
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