Dear Friend,

One of our nation's most valued agencies is the Secret Service. It is a division of the Treasury Department, perhaps suggesting it was designed to be a national treasure and protect things we treasure most.

Surprisingly, I see a parallel between what secret service agents do for our VIPs - Presidents, Vice-Presidents, their families, presidential candidates, and key congressional leaders - and what heaven does for God's VIPs. And just who are they?

God's VIPs are not every person. They are not every pastor or elder. Nor are they every Catholic or Protestant. They are not every churchgoer. Nor are they even every born-again Christian. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, I said not even every true, born-again Christian. Then just who are our VIPs? Who qualifies to be covered by the awesome protection of heaven's secret service?

Psalm 91 spells it out for us. Its language is unmistakably clear: "He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High," which means we "dwell," or live, in the presence of God (Psalm 91:1). This is precisely what Jesus described when He taught us to "go into thy closet [private room, chamber, shed], and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:6). So, God's secret service protects His secret seekers.

But since "dwelleth" means live, or make one's home in, not merely visit, this further narrows the meaning to one who seeks God very regularly, not infrequently, with constancy, not sporadically or once in a great while, as a scheduled habit, not a whim or rare religious impulse. The psalm confirms this by describing God's specially protected ones as those who have "made the Lord" their "habitation," meaning residence, private dwelling, or home address. Is this your home address: private Bible reading, prayer, thanksgiving, and worship in God's presence every day?

You live in your home not once or twice a week but every day, and go out from and return to it habitually. Does this describe your private, intimate fellowship with Christ in the "secret place"? Do you return to Him as often as you return to your bed, easy chair, den, or kitchen? Are you self-trained to do so without even considering leaving off this spiritual lovers' tryst? Don't rush your answer. Think about it, because you must get this right. If God's presence is not your residence, you don't qualify for His secret service covering - which leaves you exposed and unprotected, or only partially protected, in this dangerous, cruel, violent, satanically ruled environment we call the world. But there's more.

The protected one Psalm 91 describes also has "set [fixed] his love upon me [God]" (v. 14), which means one loves God above every other love, and shows this profound affection by putting His will first in every decision. Do you love God more than you love anything else? Pleasure? Money? Consumer goods? Sports? Politics? Entertainments? The test will tell. When you can't have both, God's will or these other loves, which do you choose? That's where your love is set - and becoming more fixed.

One translation renders this, "Because he holds fast to me in love" (v. 14, ESV). Are you holding tightly to your private fellowship with Jesus? Or are you rarely in touch with Him, visiting Him only when you need His help in some desperate problem, and then, only after you have tried to get help from every other kind of human counselor or resource? Again, think about it, because if Psalm 91's inspired statements above don't describe you, you don't qualify for God's secret service covering.

But what if it does? What if you are not only a born-again Christian, but also a secret seeker, a deeply committed God-dweller, and genuine God-lover? Then you qualify. You are one of heaven's VIPs. And the benefits of God's secret service specified in Psalm 91 are yours. They are truly wondrous. Let's examine them in detail.

Bear in mind God's secret service was in place long before ours, so He didn't copy our procedures. Yet, surprisingly, many of the practices of our secret service parallel His.

For instance, secret service men (or women) take an oath, or charge, to protect those who, due to their office, we hold in high esteem - our presidents, vice-presidents, and visiting foreign heads of state. So, they're sworn, and commissioned, to do their duty. God's secret service agents are also sworn to protect those He esteems most. "He shall give his angels charge over thee" (v. 11), or "He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go" (NLT). This text reveals the heavenly "agents" covering us are "angels" - heavenly beings with supernatural knowledge, powers, and mobility, who are individually created and personally known by God, who assigns them a personal "detail" to accompany and protect qualifying redeemed ones: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14)?

Secret service agents watch or guard their VIPs. Trained to watch for dangerous situations and people, and assess risks, they survey everything around their VIP to ensure a safe environment. God's angels also "keep [watch, guard] thee" (v. 11). Everything we see, they have already seen, and assessed, all to keep us safe and secure.

Secret service agents travel; wherever their VIP goes, they go. Our angels also travel, guarding or keeping us "in all thy ways [circumstances, settings]" (v. 11). We cannot go anywhere on earth - in dangerous cities, steaming jungles, frigid mountaintops, rushing highways, soaring jetliners, or crowded streets - where they are not present with us.

Secret service agents are invisible to the untrained public eye. Though they surround their VIP, they do not draw attention to themselves, and thus, while very present, are invisible to most of us. Similarly, our angels cannot be seen with the natural eyes, but only to the eyes of faith - which accepts God's inviolable Word as the "evidence of the things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Psalm 91 is our "evidence" enabling us to see God's invisible agents.

Secret service agents research everyone who visits their VIP, again, to assess any possible additional or unusual dangers their visit may pose. Similarly, our angels know those we are about to encounter. If we stay close to Christ and surrendered to His Spirit, they will alert us with signs and indicators, sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious, that danger lies ahead.

At the first sign of violence, secret service agents physically detain their VIPs and rush them out of harm's way. When we are caught suddenly in violent or dangerous situations, angels, without our awareness, actually take hold of us - including at times our cars, planes, trains, taxis, residences, or buildings - and guide us to safety. "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone" (v. 12). Many a time, they have kept you from, or even in, a deadly accident or assault. This explains why when Jesus' fellow Nazarenes intended to throw Him off a precipice to His death, Jesus "passed through the midst of them" safely to continue His Father's business. As the ultimate secret Seeker, Jesus' agents were on duty!

When gunshots are directed at their VIP, secret service agents have been known to intervene physically and take the bullets themselves. In March 1981, agent Timothy McCarthy did this to save President Ronald Reagan's life. I wonder how many times angels have intervened to save you or me from a violent assault, deadly auto accident, or some other injurious or deadly physical danger?

Secret service agents protect not only VIPs but also their homes and offices. God's agents do the same, as Psalm 91 assures us no evil or plague will "come near thy dwelling" (v. 10). How sweet, how comforting to know God watches your house, apartment, town house, farm, or estate, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That, my friend, is a heavenly security system that no earthly security can match!

Secret service agents even read the mail of their VIPs to screen it for potentially threatening messages or deadly substances. Angels also read our mail and help us easily identify when scammers, spammers, or other frauds call, text, or email us, or show up at our door. Have we learned to heed their quiet but persistent prompts that "something's not right here" or "this sounds odd"? Listen, learn, and live safe and well.

What a protected life! What a VIP life! And you can live it, my friend, if you will only live by the conditions set before us so clearly in Psalm 91. Be one of heaven's VIPs. Be a secret seeker, not merely a public worshiper. Be a committed God-lover. Love nothing and no one more than Him, and prove it by your actual life decisions in your divinely arranged tests. Be a committed God-dweller. Make this your home address: private Bible reading, prayer, thanksgiving, praise and worship in God's presence daily.

Then reflect on, rest in, and rejoice over this thought: God's secret service is on the job! (But without sunglasses, business suits, and ear mics.)

Reflecting, resting, rejoicing,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries