Satan seeks to use Jesus’ trust in God’s Word against Jesus, urging him to test the truth of God’s promise in Psalm 91:11–12. Satan omits the phrase in all your ways
(Psalm 91:11b), which suggests that God guards his people who walk in the path he has called them to (Psalm 91:9, Psalm 91:14; Psalm 139:1–4), but not those who knowingly place themselves in danger. Hebrews 1:14 speaks of angels as ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14), but God’s protection may mean taking someone out of this life (Hebrews 11:5, Luke 16:22).
After Satan had been confronted with the power of the Word of God and Jesus’ trust in God following the first temptation, he now tries to imitate Jesus by subversively employing the same means against Jesus. He cites Psalm 91:11–12 which contains a promise to the faithful. Clearly the devil can use biblical texts, but he cites them out of context and applies them erroneously. Here he actually tries to trick Jesus into proving the truth of God’s promise.1
The devil therefore approaches him with a word from Scripture, but one he has purposefully twisted so as to exacerbate the temptation. The devil hoped to convince Jesus that he would be acting in accordance with Scripture if he were to avoid the coming suffering and yet still be accepted as Messiah by the people. Satan knows that, by simply wrongly applying this Scriptural promise, Jesus would actually put himself at odds with Scripture and with his calling, and that he would then die without having achieved anything for the kingdom of God.
While Satan cites Psalm 91:11–12, he purposefully omits a part of this passage: in all your ways.
That the passage specifically promises angelic protection on our ways suggests a context wherein the believer walks in the path of his calling (see Psalm 139:1–4) and not when he knowingly puts himself in a dangerous situation (see Psalm 91:14). Commanding the angels is the means by which God graciously and lovingly protects us (see Hebrews 1:14). This same passage proceeds to speak of a complete protection through which the believer is actually taken up from the earth so that nothing on earth can harm him.2
6 et lui dit: Si tu es Fils de Dieu, jette-toi en bas; car il est écrit:Il donnera des ordres à ses anges à ton sujet;Et ils te porteront sur les mains,De peur que ton pied ne heurte contre une pierre.