Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 18:10
The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
10. is safe ] “Heb. is set on high,” R.V. marg.; , LXX.; exaltabitur, Vulg.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Safe – literally, as in the margin i. e., is exalted. Compare Psa 18:2, Psa 18:33.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and is safe.
The security of those who trust in God
I. Explain what is to be understood by the name of the Lord. No particular virtue or charm attaches to the sound or pronunciation of the name. In a mistaken veneration for the name the Jews refused to pronounce it at all. But a rash profanation of the name of God is unspeakably more criminal. By the name of the Lord we are to understand the Lord God Himself–His nature, as it is discovered to us in all His glorious perfection, particularly in His power and goodness to save and deliver them that put their trust in Him. Three principal ways by which God hath discovered Himself to mankind.
1. The visible creation.
2. The written Word.
3. The daily administration of His providence.
II. What is implied in the righteous running into the name of the Lord as a strong tower? The epithet strong tower conveys to the mind the idea of protection and defence. Gods almighty providence is the surest and strongest defence against all enemies of whatever kind, let their art, their activity, their malignity be what they will.
1. Running into the name implies the lively exercise of faith both in the power and the willingness of God to protect. It is only by faith that we can go to an invisible God. Faith, in applying the power and promise of God, receives very much strength from the examples of His mercy, either towards ourselves or others. The name is recorded in every page of the history of providence.
2. The righteous runneth into the name by the exercise of fervent prayer. Praying is the immediate and direct means of imploring the Divine assistance and protection. Faith is the habitual principle, and prayer is the actual application of it. Though God knows all our wants perfectly, He requires that we implore His assistance by prayer. And prayer is the natural remedy to which all are ready to fly in extremity.
3. The righteous runneth into the name by diligence in his duty; which implies three things:
(1) Diligence in all duties in general.
(2) A watchful attention to his conduct in every time of trial or danger. Whether his danger arises from bodily distress, from worldly losses, from slander and reproach, the first and great care of the Christian should be to keep his conscience undefiled.
(3) The diligent use of every lawful means for his protection and deliverance.
(4) A renunciation of dependence on all created help. We run into the strong tower from everything else.
III. The perfect security of the righteous.
1. Wherein does this safety consist? Is safe might be rendered is exalted, placed on high. God preserves them from dangers which they could not escape. They have the promise of strength and support in the time of trial. They are sure of deliverance in the end, and complete victory over all sufferings of every kind.
2. The certainty of it is based on the Divine perfections, on the faithful promises, and on the experience of the saints. Learn–
(1) The sinfulness of distrust.
(2) The remedy for distrust. (J. Witherspoon, D. D.)
Two defences–real and imaginary
The two verses put side by side two pictures, two fortifications: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; that is so, whether a man thinks it or not; that is an objective truth and always true. The rich mans wealth is his strong city, because in his own conceit he has made it so. So we have on the one side fact and on the other side fancy. The two pictures are worth looking at. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Now, of course, I need not remind you that the name of the Lord, or the name of Jesus Christ, means a great deal more than the syllables by which He is designated, which is all that we understand generally by a name. It means, to put it into far less striking words, the whole character of God, in so far as it is revealed to men. So we have to recognise in that great expression the clearest utterance of the two thoughts which have often been regarded as antagonistic, viz., the imperfection, and yet the reality, of our knowledge of God. His name is not the same as Himself, but it is that by which He is known. Our knowledge of Him, after all revelation, is incomplete, but it is His name–that is to say, it corresponds to the realities of His nature, and may be absolutely and for ever trusted. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, which, translated into plain prose, is just this–in that revealed character there is all that shelterless, defenceless men can need for absolute security and perfect peace. We may illustrate that by considering either Him who defends or him that is defended. On the one hand, perfect wisdom, perfect love, perfect power, that endure for ever; and on the other hand, men weighed upon by sore distresses, crippled and wounded by many transgressions. These two, the defence and the defenceless, fit into each other like the seal to its impress, the convexity to the cavity. Whatever man needs, God is, and whatever dangers, dreads, pains, losses, sorrows, sins, attack humanity, in Him is the refuge for them all. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Do you believe that; and is it an operative belief in your lives? The righteous runneth into it; and what is that running into it? Neither more nor less than the act of faith. One of the words of the Old Testament which is frequently translated–and rightly so–trust, has for its literal meaning to flee to a refuge. So, says our teacher, the way to get into the fortress, and to have the solemn battlements of that Divine name round our unarmed and else shelterless weakness, is simply to trust in Him. But the word suggests the urgency and the effort that will always go with faith. The righteous runneth into it–not dawdles in it–and is safe. And that takes effort and means haste. Do not put off your flight. And stop in it when you are there, by that constant communion with the name of the Lord, which will bring you tranquillity. In Me ye shall have peace. Stay behind the strong bulwarks. But there is a formidable word in this old proverb. The righteous runneth into it. Does not that upset all our hopes? I need not say anything about the safety, except to make one remark. The word rendered is safe literally means is high. The intention, of course, is to express safety, but it expresses it in a picturesque fashion which has its bearing upon the word in the next verse, viz., it sets before us the thought that the man who has taken refuge in the strong tower goes up to the top of it by the winding staircase, and high up there the puny bows of the foe below cannot shoot an arrow that will reach him. That is a truth for faith. We have to bear the common lot of humanity, but the evil that is in the evil, the bitterness that is in the sorrow, the poison that is in the sting, all these may be taken away for us. And now I need only say a word or two about the companion picture, the illusory imagination. The rich mans wealth is his strong city, and a high wall in his own conceit. It is very hard to have, and to be concerned about, and to use, the external good without putting our trust in it. The Bible has no foolish condemnation of wealth. And we all know, whether in regard to money, or to earthly loves, or to outward possessions and blessings of all sorts, how difficult it is to keep within the limit, not to rely upon these, and to think that if we have them we are blessed. What can we do, any of us, when real calamities come? Will wealth or anything else keep away the tears? What will prevent the sorrows, deal with the sins, or enable us to be of good cheer in the face of death and disease, and to say, You cannot touch me? Ah! there is but one thing that will do that for us. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The other man has a high wall in his own conceit. Did you ever see the canvas fortifications at some entertainments that they put up to imitate strong castles?–canvas stretched upon bits of stick. That is the kind of strong wall that the man puts up who trusts in the uncertainty of any earthly thing, or in anything but the living God. Let us keep ourselves within the Divine limits in regard to all external things. It is hard to do it, but it can be done. And there is only one way to do it, and that is by the same act by which we take refuge in the true fortress–viz., by faith and communion. When we realise that God is our defence, then we can see through the insufficiency of the others. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The name of the Lord a strong tower
It is essential that mans hopes should rest on a firm basis.
I. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Names have a twofold use–to distinguish and describe. Our names generally serve only to distinguish the individual. Sometimes, however, they describe as well as distinguish, and when this is the ease, their significancy is greatly increased. The name of God is descriptive; it describes the attributes of His character as revealed to us. What God is in Himself is implied in the name Jehovah, the existent. What the Almighty God is to His sinful and rebellious creatures is a matter of anxious inquiry. He is condescending, full of compassion, ready to forgive, slow to anger, yet by no means clearing the guilty. Such is the name of the Lord, which the text reminds us is a strong tower. A tower is a place built for shelter and security. Its strength consists in the durability of the materials of which it is composed. Gods name is called a strong tower, on account of the strength of the foundation on which they build who are sheltered within it.
II. The conduct of the righteous. He runneth into it. The real Christian is the one who is earnest in the pursuit of everlasting life. He is impelled by a sense of danger. He is animated by the hope of safety.
III. The safety of the righteous within the tower. He is safe from–
1. The assaults of the devil.
2. From the world.
3. From his own natural depravity.
4. From the accusations of the law.
5. From the accusations of conscience.
6. From the fear of death. (J. R. Shurlock, M. A.)
On trust in God
As a strong tower was considered, under the ancient system of warfare, to be a place of entire security from harm, this text is nothing else than a figurative manner of expressing the extreme importance of putting our whole trust in God. The reasonableness of this duty will appear if we consider the Divine perfections.
1. Gods unlimited power. It is proclaimed by the heavens, the work of His fingers, and by the earth, which He has suspended upon nothing. Everything declares that He is at least fully competent to our preservation and deliverance.
2. His particular providence, as displayed in the government of the universe. Even things which we are wont to regard as casual and trivial are subjected to His perpetual control.
3. His beneficence. He is ever ready to relieve and to bless. He is not only competent, He is willing to promote our good.
4. His tried and approved veracity God is faithful, who hath promised. In our intercourse with each other, experience is the basis of confidence, of mercantile credit, and of moral character. The same principle should lead us to place confidence in God. Two remarks to guard the subject from misconception.
(1) God may sometimes appear unkind, and yet be not the less deserving of our full reliance.
(2) A compliance with the Divine will is an indispensable requisite to a well-grounded confidence in the Divine favour. A right trust in God includes personal exertions towards attaining the objects of our desire. (J. Grant, M. A.)
Our strong tower
There are many war similes in the Bible.
1. Men mistake by resting satisfied with unstable and insecure bases. The sense of dependence is in every man so strong that no man can be happy quite alone, and leaning on nothing. Men try to satisfy themselves with one or other of three things.
(1) Health. They assure themselves that if they were to lose all they possessed, their health and energy would enable them to make their way in the world again.
(2) Friends. They say, I have friends who are well off, and they will be sure to help me.
(3) Money. The rich mans wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit. Neither of these towers can be safe trusting-places. Health is uncertain. Friends fail. Money takes wing. If they provide some little shelter from the common sorrows of life, they can provide none for those spiritual sorrows which are the real sorrows.
2. Men cannot be truly strong for life until they have God behind them. To know a man is to apprehend all that makes up his individuality, or to know his name. So the name of God includes everything that spheres Him as God: a just apprehension of God and His relations–a true knowledge of God. To know God in covenant is a strong tower. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is God known through relationships and tried by experience. That God can be our tower. In Scripture, to know the name of any one implies familiarity and confidence; and to know God by name implies such confidence as makes Him to us a strong tower. To do anything in the name of another is to carry with you their authority, as with the ambassador or the old prophet. The name of God is a storehouse of wealth and strength, from which all recurring needs can be supplied. Then comes the moral force needed to deal with–
1. The attacks of life.
2. The defences of life.
3. The retreats of life.
Who can use this defence of God? Only the man whose purpose is to live the righteous life, and whose constant effort is to realise his purpose. (Weekly Pulpit.)
The name of the Lord
I. Christ is a Stronghold, for as such He has been appointed and ordained by God. Wisdom.
II. Christ is a Stronghold, because of the absolute perfection of His obedience, and the entire adequacy of His atonement. Holiness and justice.
III. Christ is a Stronghold, because God has actually accepted of His vicarious work. Faithfulness.
IV. Christ is a Stronghold, because as a King He hath sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Power.
V. The testimony of men–those who have fled for refuge. (James Stewart.)
Our Stronghold
Strong towers were a greater security in a bygone age than they are now. Castles were looked upon as being very difficult places for attack; and ancient troops would rather fight a hundred battles than endure a single siege. He who owned a strong tower felt, however potent might be his adversary, his walls and bulwarks would be his sure salvation.
I. The character of God furnishes the righteous with an abundant security. The character of God is the refuge of the Christian in opposition to other refuges which godless men have chosen; and as a matter of fact and reality. The purpose of God in our salvation is the glorifying of His own character, and this it is that makes our salvation positively sure; if every one that trusts in Christ be not saved, then is God dishonoured. His character is the great granite formation upon which must rest all the pillars of the covenant of grace, and the sure mercies thereof. His wisdom, truth, mercy, justice, power, eternity, and immutability, are the seven pillars of the house of sure salvation. This is true not only as a matter of fact but also as a matter of experience. Even when the Lord Himself chastens us, it is most blessed to appeal against God to God.
II. How the righteous avail themselves of this strong tower. They run into it. They do not stop to make any preparation. And the running implies that they have nothing to carry; and that fear quickens them. When a man enters a castle, he is safe because of the impregnability of the castle, not because of the way in which he entered into the castle.
III. Entering the strong tower is a joyous experience. For is safe the margin reads is set aloft.
1. This is a matter of fact. He is safe, for who can hurt him? Who has power to reach him? What weapon is there that can be used against him?
2. This is a matter of experience. The believer in his high days {and they ought to be every day) is like an eagle perched aloft on a towering crag. Yonder is a hunter down below, who would fain strike the royal bird; he has his rifle with him, but his rifle would not reach one-third of the way. So the royal bird looks down upon him in quiet contempt, not intending even to take the trouble to stretch one of his wings, for he is quite safe, he is up aloft. Such is the faithful Christians state before God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A place of refuge
In the ancient Greek states certain temples afforded protection to criminals, whom it was unlawful to drag from them, although the supply of food might be intercepted. As early as the seventh century the protection of sanctuary was afforded to persons fleeing to a church or certain boundaries surrounding it. In several English churches there was a stone seat beside the altar, where those fleeing to the peace of the church were held to be guarded by its sanctity. (Chambers Encyclopedia.)
The name of God a refuge
The name of God is his harbour, where he puts in as boldly as a man steps into his own house when taken in a shower. (H. G. Salter.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower] The name of the Lord may be taken for the Lord himself; he is a strong tower, a refuge, and place of complete safety, to all that trust in him. What a strong fortress is to the besieged, the like is God to his persecuted, tempted, afflicted followers.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The name of the Lord, i.e. the Lord, as he hath revealed himself in his works, and especially in his word by his promises, and the declarations of his infinite perfections, and of his good will to his people.
Is a strong tower; is sufficient for our protection in case of the greatest dangers.
The righteous; which limitation he adds to beat down the vain confidences of those men, who though they live in a gross neglect and contempt of God, will expect salvation from him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. name of the Lordmanifestedperfections (Psa 8:1; Psa 20:2),as faithfulness, power, mercy, c., on which men rely.
is safeliterally, “seton high, out of danger” (Psa 18:2Psa 91:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The name of the Lord [is] a strong tower,…. By “the name of the Lord” may be meant, either the attributes and perfections of God, by which he is made known, and which are the strength and security of his people; his goodness, grace, and mercy, are their defence; his favour encompasses them about, as a shield; his justice protects them from all injuries and insults; his truth and faithfulness preserve them; they are kept by his power, as in a garrison; and his unchangeableness is a reason why they are not consumed: or else the Lord himself; his name is put for himself, Ps 20:1; and may be well interpreted of the Messiah, as it is by the ancient Jew, q; in and by whom God is manifested unto men as the God of grace; in whom he proclaims his name, a God gracious and merciful; whose name is in him, and who has the same nature and perfections with him; his name is Jehovah, our righteousness; Immanuel, God with us; the mighty God, and Prince of peace; and who is called Jesus, because he saves his people from their sins, and so is their security from eternal destruction. What a strong tower is to them that are within it, against an enemy without, that is the power, strength, and might of Christ to his people; as a divine Person, he is strong and mighty, the most mighty, the Almighty; as man, he is the man of God’s right hand, made strong for himself and us; as Mediator, he has all power in heaven and earth: in him is everlasting strength for his people; he is their Betzer, their fortified place, or city of refuge, to flee unto on all occasions; he is the strong hold, whither prisoners of hope are directed to turn to; he is their place of defence, and the munition of rocks; a strong tower, inexpugnable; so deeply founded, no enemy can work under it; and plant a mine to blow it up; so highly built; no scaling ladders can reach it; so fortified, no cannon balls can break through it, or demolish any of its walls and bulwarks, which are his salvation; the gates of hell cannot prevail against it; it is not to be taken by storm, or by the most violent attack of the whole posse of men and devils;
the righteous runneth into it; not self-righteous persons, they run from Christ and his righteousness, not to him and that; but such who see their own righteousness will not justify them; who indeed are sinners, know and acknowledge themselves to be such; as sinners go to Christ, who, as such, receives them; and these are righteous through the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and live soberly, righteously, and godly: and it is the continual business or employment of their faith to betake themselves to Christ upon all occasions; they are continually coming to him, and exercising faith upon him, as the Lord their righteousness, which is meant by “running” to him; this supposes knowledge of him, as the strong tower and city of refuge; of the way unto him, and of the reception by him which may be expected; it supposes a principle of spiritual life, and some degree of spiritual strength; a sense of danger or of want in themselves, and of safety and fulness in Christ; it is expressive of haste, readiness, and cheerfulness, and is owing to the drawings of efficacious grace;
and such an one that thus runs
is safe; from the avenging justice of God; from the curse and condemnation of the law; from sin, and all its dreadful consequences; from Satan, and all spiritual enemies; from wrath to come, hell, and the second death: or is “set aloft” r; is on high; for this tower, as it is a strong one, it is a high one; a rock of refuge, higher than men, or angels, or heaven itself; and such who are in it are out of the reach of all danger and every enemy.
q Midrash Tillim in Psal. xviii. 50. fol. 18. 1. r “et exaltabitur”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus; “erit in loco alto et tuto”, Vatablus; “et exaltatur”, Michaelis; “in celsoque aget”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Two proverbs, of the fortress of faith, and of the fortress of presumption:
10 A strong tower is the name of Jahve;
The righteous runneth into it, and is high.
The name of Jahve is the Revelation of God, and the God of Revelation Himself, the creative and historical Revelation, and who is always continually revealing Himself; His name is His nature representing itself, and therefore capable of being described and named, before all the Tetragramm, as the Anagramm of the overruling and inworking historical being of God, as the Chiffre of His free and all-powerful government in grace and truth, as the self-naming of God the Saviour. This name, which is afterwards interwoven in the name Jesus, is (Psa 61:4), a strong high tower bidding defiance to every hostile assault. Into this the righteous runneth, to hide himself behind its walls, and is thus lifted ( perf. consec.) high above all danger (cf. , Pro 29:25). means, Job 15:26, to run against anything, , seq. acc., to invest, blockade anything, , to hasten within; Hitzig’s conjecture, riseth up high, instead of , is a freak. is speedily , the idea the same as Psa 27:5; Psa 31:21.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Here is, 1. God’s sufficiency for the saints: His name is a strong tower for them, in which they may take rest when they are weary and take sanctuary when they are pursued, where they may be lifted up above their enemies and fortified against them. There is enough in God, and in the discoveries which he has made of himself to us, to make us easy at all times. The wealth laid up in this tower is enough to enrich them, to be a continual feast and a continuing treasure to them. The strength of this tower is enough to protect them; the name of the Lord is all that whereby he has made himself known as God, and our God, not only his titles and attributes, but his covenant and all the promises of it; these make up a tower, a strong tower, impenetrable, impregnable, for all God’s people. 2. The saints’ security in God. It is a strong tower to those who know how to make use of it as such. The righteous, by faith and prayer, devotion towards God and dependence on him, run into it, as their city of refuge. Having made sure their interest in God’s name, they take the comfort and benefit of it; they go out of themselves, retire from the world, live above, dwell in God and God in them, and so they are safe, they think themselves so, and they shall find themselves so.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
True and False Security
Verse 10 identifies the LORD as the unfailing security of the righteous, 2Sa 22:3; 2Sa 22:51; Psa 27:1; Psa 61:3-4; Psa 91:2; Psa 144:1-2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 18:10. Safe, or, lifted high.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 18:10-11
TWO CITADELS
I. The citadel of him who trusts in the Lord. The name of the Lord. God has revealed Himself to men by many names, each one of which is intended to set forth some attribute of His perfect nature. The name I AM, by which He revealed Himself to Israel (Exo. 3:14) set forth His eternal self-existence, but He has also revealed Himself by names which are used to express human relations, such as king, judge, husband, father. These names are often borne by men who are destitute of the qualifications and feelings proper to the relationships which they express, but when any one of them is applied to God it is applied to one who combines within Himself all those attributes of character in perfection which ought to be possessed in some degree by men who are called by these names. The righteous mans refuge, then, is a Living Personalitya Self-existent and Eternal King and Father, infinite in power, in wisdom, and in tenderness. It is therefore 1 An ever-present refuge. God is not far from every one of us (Act. 17:27), and being ever near, is always accessible.
2. An impregnable refuge. Before an enemy can attack those who have taken refuge in a fortress, they must carry the citadel itself. So before any enemy can harm a righteous man, he must overcome the Almighty God; he must circumvent His plans, and overthrow his purposes.
When His wisdom can mistake,
His might decay, His love forsake,
then, but not till then, will those be exposed to danger who have put their trust in Him.
3. An eternal refuge. The arms of strength that defend the children of God are everlasting arms (Deu. 33:7). Many of the ancient fortresses that are scattered over our land were once deemed impregnable refuges. But although they bade defiance to many an assault of men in battle-array, they have had to yield to a more subtle enemy. Time has crumbled their once mighty walls, and made them unfit for purposes of defence. But the righteous man can say to Him who is his strong tower, Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God (Psa. 90:1-2).
II. The stronghold of the man who trusts in riches.
1. Riches are no defence against a mans most powerful enemies. While a man has wealth he is defended from many bodily ills and from many vexations of spirit. A man of narrow means has often to fight a hard battle to supply his bodily necessities, and is a stranger to those luxuries which make life, in this respect, so comfortable to a rich man. And a poor man has also to bend his will to the will of his richer neighbourto endure often th oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely. Wealth is a defence against all these enemies to a mans comfort. But there are troubles far heavier than any of these, from which riches afford no protection. Disease and death cannot be turned aside with moneya troubled soul cannot be comforted with gold. A bed of down cannot do much for a man whose body is racked with painit can do nothing for him whose soul is bowed down by sorrow, or smitten with a fear of death. In any of these straits a soul can find no strong city of refuge in the possession of untold millions; these enemies laugh at such a wall of defence. The man who trusts in material wealth as his chief good, has either made too low an estimate of his own needs, or too high an estimate of the power of wealth.
2. Wealth is a fortress with a most uncertain foundation. Granted that it is a defence against some very real ills, who can insure to himself a continuance of his present possessions? The uncertainty of riches has been a subject upon which the sages and moralists of all ages have dweltthe millionaire of to-day may be a beggar to-morrow, and he who was last year surrounded by this high wall, which shut in so much that was agreeable to his senses and shut ont so many discomforts from his temporal life, may be standing to-day a forlorn, unsheltered creature, with only the ruins of his once imposing fortress around him. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. Pro. 11:28.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
This strong refuge is not only safe, but set aloft, so the word signifies, out of the gunshot. None can pull out of His hands. Run therefore to God by praying, not fainting. This is the best policy for security. That which is said of wily persons that are full of fetches, of windings, and of turnings in the world, that such will never break, is much more true of a righteous, praying Christian. He hath but one grand policy to secure him against all dangers, and that is, to run to God.Trapp.
To this tower the wicked are sometimes driven in distress, then seeking help here, when it is nowhere else to be found. But the righteous in any distress runneth presently unto it. Thither their eyes look, thither their hands are stretched, thither their hearts carry them. Yea, they are not only carried unto it but into it, by placing their confidence in it, and making it their safety. They are well acquainted with the way, and therefore can make speed; they have cast off the clogs of worldly impediments and so are fit for running; they think it much longer until they come to God, than impatient hearts do until they come to help.Jermin.
To the righteous God is good, and he nestles and shelters himself in that; runs into the nurture and shelter of Gods love, and, in the comfort of this strong tower, is lifted high. But there is a profounder sense. The very name that is cavilled at by the lost is the foundation of the Christians safety. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by His name. He gave it to Christs humanity. More specifically speaking, He used it in the name of His own righteousness, to balance our guilt and to give weight and value to the price of His redemption. We are repeatedly said to be saved by the name of God (Psa. 54:1; Joh. 17:11-12). And this is the meaning. The perfect holiness of God, which the lost man would upbraid, is what is vital in the cross of Christ. It is not only a strong tower, but our only defence. And the act of faith is a renouncing of self and a snatching at the name, that is, the righteousness or substituted standing of our Great Deliverer. Miller.
Take the sinner in his first awakening conviction. He trembles at the thought of eternal condemnation. He looks forwardall is terror; backwardnothing but remorse; inwardall is darkness. Till now he had no idea of his need of salvation. His enemy now suggests that it is beyond his reach; that he has sinned too long and too much, against too much light and knowledge; how can he be saved? But the name of the Lord meets his eye. He spells out every letter, and putting it together, criesWho is a God like unto thee? (Mic. 7:18.) He runs to it, as to a strong tower. His burden of conscience is relieved. His soul is set free, and he enjoys his safety. Takeagainthe child of Godfeeble, distressed, assaulted. What, if I should return to the world, look back, give up my profession, yield to my own deceitful heart, and perish at last with aggraved condemnation? You are walking outside the gates of your tower; no wonder that your imprudence exposes you to the fiery darts of the wicked. Read again the name of the Lord! Go back within the wallsSee upon the tower the nameI am the Lord; I change not (Mal. 3:6). Read the direction to trust in itWho is there among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant: that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God (Isa. 1:10). Mark the warrant of experience in this trustThey that know thy name shall put their trust in Thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee (Psa. 9:10). Thus sense of danger, knowledge of the way, confidence in the strength of the towerall gives a spring of life and earnestness to run into it. Here the righteousthe man justified by the grace, and sanctified by the Spirit, of Godrunneth every day, every hour; realizing at once his fearful danger, and his perfect security.Bridges.
For Homiletics on Pro. 18:12, see on chap. Pro. 11:2 and Pro. 16:18.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(10) The name of the Lord is a strong tower.The name of the Lord signifies the titles by which He has made Himself known, descriptive of His attributes, as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, &c. (Exo. 34:5; Exo. 34:7); the righteous takes refuge in these, and finds himself in safety, lifted above the trouble which seemed ready to overwhelm him. The rich mans strong city and high wall are such only in his own conceit, and fail him in the time of need. (Comp. Pro. 23:5.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. The name of the Lord Meaning himself, as he is revealed to man in his faithfulness, love, compassion, power, etc. “The name of the God of Jacob defend thee.” Psa 20:1.
Is a strong tower He is a sure defence and hiding-place.
Is safe Literally, is set on high, that is, out of the reach of enemies. Towers were built on high places that they might be unapproachable by enemies. Compare Pro 29:25; Psa 18:2; Psa 18:33; Psa 27:1; Psa 144:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 796
THE NAME OF THE LORD A STRONG TOWER
Pro 18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
IN the Proverbs of Solomon we must not expect to find long and accurate statements of Divine truth, nor elevated strains of devotion founded upon it: the scope of the book is rather by brief sentences to fix upon the mind truths already acknowledged, and to shew the excellency of them in their effects. The passage before us is very instructive in this view, namely, as illustrating the blessedness attendant on true piety. But it commends itself to us yet more forcibly, by exhibiting a contrast between the dispositions and habits which religion inspires, and those which are indulged by the whole ungodly world. The text informs us what the righteous man does: the verse following our text informs us what the worldling does: the one makes God his refuge; the other trusts in his wealth, or some other idol equally vain: the one founds all his hopes on God, as made known to us in the Scriptures of Truth; the other, on some vanity, that has no title to confidence but in his own conceit.
It was to mark this contrast that the blessedness mentioned in our text was confined to the righteous. Solomon did not mean to intimate, that an unrighteous man, if he would flee to this tower, should be shut out: for the most unrighteous man in the universe is invited to come to it: and, like the cities of refuge, its gates stand open day and night for the admission of all who desire to flee to it for refuge. But the truth is, that none but the righteous will run to it: none but they who are sensible of their guilt and danger, and are fleeing in earnest from the wrath to come, will enter in. All others deny the necessity of submitting to so humiliating a measure: they think they are safe enough without it. The believing penitent, on the contrary, is thankful for such a refuge, and is in the habit of running to it on every occasion: and therefore to him, and to him alone, is the security confined.
To elucidate the passage, we will endeavour to unfold,
I.
The character of God
By the name of the Lord we are not to understand the mere word, Jehovah, as though that would afford us any security. This is a vain and foolish superstition, that has no foundation whatever in the Oracles of God. But, by the name of the Lord we must understand his character; as we learn from that expression of David, They that know thy name, i. e. thy character, will put their trust in thee [Note: Psa 9:10.]. Consider then the character of Jehovah,
1.
As described by himself
[God, in infinite condescension, was pleased to make himself known to Moses, and by an audible voice to proclaim his name [Note: Exo 34:5.]: The Lord passed by and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty [Note: Exo 34:6-7.]. Now we would ask the trembling sinner, What character he would wish Jehovah to bear? Would he wish God in no instance to testify his displeasure against sin, but to treat all men alike, putting no difference between the guilty who are going on in all manner of wickedness, and the penitent, who are turning from all iniquity? No: there is not a penitent in the universe that would wish God to act in a way so unworthy of his Divine Majesty. But if he desire to be assured of mercy to returning penitents, it is not possible that any words he could devise could more richly portray this attribute, than those which God himself has used. Consider them distinctly and separately, and see how constantly they have been verified towards you hitherto, and how abundantly they contain all that you can desire.]
2.
As revealed to us in Christ Jesus
[The Lord Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us; and he is particularly called, The image of the invisible God. because in him the whole character of the Deity is made, as it were, visible to mortal men. He is the brightness of his Fathers glory, and the express image of his person; and his whole character is marked in the name given him before he was conceived in the womb [Note: Mat 1:21; Mat 1:23.]. The name Jesus is the same with Joshua, or Jehoshua, that is, Jah Hosea, Divine Saviour. What a glorious and comprehensive name is this! All that he has done and suffered for us, and all that he has promised to us, is contained in it; together with his perfect sufficiency for all that he has undertaken to effect. The trembling sinner finds in the very name of Jesus a pledge of all that he wants. Besides, whilst we contemplate him in the whole of his work and offices, we are expressly authorized to apply to ourselves the benefit of them all, and to call him, The Lord our Righteousness [Note: Jer 23:6.]. Follow this idea in all its bearings, and what unsearchable mysteries of love and mercy will it unfold to our view!]
Such being the name and character of God, let us contemplate,
II.
The interest we have in it
It is indeed a strong tower
[Consider every perfection of the Deity: there is not one which is not a chamber where we may hide ourselves till every calamity be overpast [Note: Isa 26:20.]. The wisdom, the goodness, the love, the power, the faithfulness of Jehovahwho that is encompassed by them does not feel himself in an impregnable fortress? Truly they are not merely a wall, but a wall of fire round about the righteous; of fire, which whilst it protects the fugitive, will devour the assailant. What a tower too is the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of his work and offices! Well is he said to be a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall [Note: Isa 26:4.]. Yes, the man Christ Jesus, in his Mediatorial character, is such a hiding-place [Note: Isa 32:2.], where no adversary shall ever penetrate.]
All who run to it shall be safe
[Who shall ever approach to harm those who are thus protected [Note: 1Pe 3:13.]? Surely they shall be kept in perfect peace. They are safe: safe from the curses of the broken law: for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus [Note: Rom 8:1.] They are safe too from the assaults of Satan; for their lives are hid with Christ in God, where Satan can never come [Note: Col 3:3-4.] In a word, they are safe from every kind of evil: for God has said of those who make the Most High their habitation, that no evil shall befall them [Note: Psa 91:9-10.] The persecutor may touch their body, but cannot reach their soul [Note: Luk 12:4-5.]: they shall sooner be fed with ravens, than be suffered to want any manner of thing that is good [Note: Psa 34:9-10.]. And if any thing occur that has the semblance of evil, they may be assured that it shall work for their present and eternal good [Note: Rom 8:28. 2Co 4:17-18.]. Like Elisha, they are surrounded with horses of fire and chariots of fire [Note: 2Ki 6:14-17.]: and any assaults made upon them shall only terminate as in Elijahs case, with the confusion and ruin of their enemies [Note: 2Ki 1:9-14.].]
Suffer now a word of exhortation
1.
Study much the character of God
[To know God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, is, as our Lord informs us, eternal life. All other knowledge is mere vanity in comparison of this. Without this we have nothing to warrant our hopes, or to dissipate our fears Acquaint then yourselves with God, and be at peace ]
2.
Maintain constant and intimate communion with him
[You know how a child runs to his parent on every occasion: do ye in like manner run unto your God. This is the very character of the true Christian; The righteous runneth unto God as his strong tower. Get to him under every fear, and every want, and every distress: and cast your care on Him who careth for you ]
3.
Assure yourselves of the safety which you are privileged to enjoy
[Well may you say, If God be for me, who can be against me? See how David exulted in his security [Note: Psa 18:1-2; Psa 27:1.]! and learn like him to glory in your God: for it is Gods desire that you should enjoy all possible consolation [Note: Heb 6:18.]. Your Saviour has assured you, that none shall pluck you out of his hands: lie there then in peace and safety, knowing in whom you have believed, and that he is able to keep that which you have committed to him When he has lost his power to save, then, and not till then, shall any enemy prevail against you.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Ver. 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. ] God’s attributes are called “His name”; because by them he is known as a man is, by his name. These are said to be Arx roboris, a tower so deep, no pioneer can undermine it; so thick, no cannon can pierce it; so high, no ladder can scale it; – “a rock,” an “old rock”; Isa 26:4 yea, “munitions of rocks”; Isa 33:16 rocks within rocks; a tower impregnable – inexpugnable. a
The righteous runneth to it.
a That cannot be taken by assault or storm; incapable of being overcome, subdued, or overthrown by force; impregnable, invincible.
b , John x. [Sic. – Query? Joh 10:4 , .]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Proverbs
TWO FORTRESSES
Pro 18:10 – Pro 18:11
The mere reading of these two verses shows that, contrary to the usual rule in the Book of Proverbs, they have a bearing on each other. They are intended to suggest a very strong contrast, and that contrast is even more emphatic in the original than in our translation; because, as the margin of your Bibles will tell you, the last word of the former verse might be more correctly rendered, ‘the righteous runneth into it, and is set on high.’ It is the same word which is employed in the next verse-’a high wall.’
So we have ‘the strong tower’ and ‘the strong city’; the man lifted up above danger on the battlements of the one, and the man fancying himself to be high above it and only fancying himself in the imaginary safety of the other.
I. Consider then, first, the two fortresses.
‘The name of the Lord,’ of course, is the Biblical expression for the whole character of God, as He has made it known to us, or in other words, for God Himself, as He has been pleased to reveal Himself to mankind. The syllables of that name are all the deeds by which He has taught us what He is; every act of power, of wisdom, of tenderness, of grace that has manifested these qualities and led us to believe that they are all infinite. In the name, in its narrower sense, the name of Jehovah, there is much of ‘the name’ in its wider sense. For that name ‘Jehovah,’ both by its signification and by the circumstances under which it was originally employed, tells us a great deal about God. It tells us, for instance, by virtue of its signification, that He is self-existent, depending upon no other creature. ‘I AM THAT I AM!’ No other being can say that. All the rest of us have to say, ‘I am that which God made me.’ Circumstances and a hundred other things have made me; God finds the law of His being and the fountain of His being within Himself.
‘He sits on no precarious throne,
Nor borrows leave to be.’
But far beyond even the sweep of that great name, Jehovah, is the knowledge of God’s deepest heart and character which we learn in Him who said, ‘I have declared Thy name unto My brethren, and will declare it.’ Christ in His life and death, in His meekness, sweetness, gentleness, calm wisdom, infinite patience, attractiveness; yearning over sinful hearts, weeping over rebels, in the graciousness of His life, in the sacredness and the power of His Cross, is the Revealer to our hearts of the heart of God. If I may so say, He has builded ‘the strong tower’ broader, has expanded its area and widened its gate, and lifted its summit yet nearer the heavens, and made the name of God a wider name and a mightier name, and a name of surer defence and blessing than ever it was before.
And so, dear brethren! it all comes to this, the name that is ‘the strong tower’ is the name ‘My Father!’ a Father of infinite tenderness and wisdom and power. Oh! where can the child rest more quietly than on the mother’s breast, where can the child be safer than in the circle of the father’s arms? ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower.’
Now turn to the other for a moment: ‘The rich man’s wealth is’ with great emphasis on the next little word ‘ his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit.’ Of course we have not to deal here only with wealth in the shape of money, but all external and material goods, the whole mass of the ‘things seen and temporal,’ are gathered together here in this phrase.
Men use their imaginations in very strange fashion, and make, or fancy they make, for themselves out of the things of the present life a defence and a strength. Like some poor lunatic, out upon a moor, that fancies himself ensconced in a castle; like some barbarous tribes behind their stockades or crowding at the back of a little turf wall, or in some old tumble-down fort that the first shot will bring rattling down about their ears, fancying themselves perfectly secure and defended-so do men deal with these outward things that are given them for another purpose altogether: they make of them defences and fortresses.
It is difficult for a man to have them and not to trust them. So Jesus said to His disciples once: ‘How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom’; and when they were astonished at His words, He repeated them with the significant variation, ‘How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God.’ So He would teach that the misuse and not the possession of wealth is the barrier, but so, too, He would warn us that, nine times out of ten, the possession of them in more than a very modest measure, tempts a man into confidence in them.
The illusion is one that besets us all. We are all tempted to make a defence of the things that we can see and handle. Is it not strange, and is it not sad, that most of us just turn the truth round about and suppose that the real defence is the imaginary, and that the imaginary one is the real? How many men are there in this chapel who, if they spoke out of their deepest convictions, would say: ‘Oh yes! the promises of God are all very well, but I would rather have the cash down. I suppose that I may trust that He will provide bread and water, and all the things that I need, but I would rather have a good solid balance at the banker’ s.’ How many of you would rather honestly, and at the bottom of your hearts, have that than God’s word for your defence? How many of you think that to trust in a living God is but grasping at a very airy and unsubstantial kind of support; and that the real solid defence is the defence made of the things that you can see?
My brother! it is exactly the opposite way. Turn it clean round, and you get the truth. The unsubstantial shadows are the material things that you can see and handle; illusory as a dream, and as little able to ward off the blows of fate as a soap bubble. The real is the unseen beyond-’the things that are ,’ and He who alone really is, and in His boundless and absolute Being is our only defence.
In one aspect or another, that false imagination with which my last text deals is the besetting sin of Manchester. Not the rich man only, but the poor man just as much, is in danger of it. The poor man who thinks that everything would be right if only he were rich, and the rich man who thinks that everything is right because he is rich, are exactly the same man. The circumstances differ, but the one man is but the other turned inside out. And all round about us we see the fierce fight to get more and more of these things, the tight grip of them when we have got them, the overestimate of the value of them, the contempt for the people who have less of them than ourselves. Our aristocracy is an aristocracy of wealth; in some respects, one by no means to be despised, because there often go a great many good qualities to the making and the stewardship of wealth; but still it is an evil that men should be so largely estimated by their money as they are here. It is not a sound state of opinion which has made ‘what is he worth ?’ mean ‘how much of it has he?’ We are taught here to look upon the prizes of life as being mainly wealth. To win that is ‘success’-’prosperity’-and it is very hard for us all not to be influenced by the prevailing tone.
I would urge you, young men, especially to lay this to heart-that of all delusions that can beset you in your course, none will work more disastrously than the notion that the summum bonum , the shield and stay of a man, is the ‘abundance of the things that he possesses.’ I fancy I see more listless, discontented, unhappy faces looking out of carriages than I see upon the pavement. And I am sure of this, at any rate, that all which is noble and sweet and good in life can be wrought out and possessed upon as much bread and water as will keep body and soul together, and as much furniture as will enable a man to sit at his meal and lie down at night. And as for the rest, it has many advantages and blessings, but oh! it is all illusory as a defence against the evils that will come, sooner or later, to every life.
II. Consider next how to get into the true Refuge.
And that same lesson is taught by the words of our text, ‘The righteous runneth into it.’ I do not dwell upon the word ‘righteous.’ That is the Old Testament point of view, which could not conceive it possible that any man could have deep and close communion with God, except on condition of a pure character. I will not speak of that at present, but point to the picturesque metaphor, which will tell us a great deal more about what faith is than many a philosophical dissertation. Many a man who would be perplexed by a theologian’s talk will understand this: ‘The righteous runneth into the name of the Lord.’
The metaphor brings out the idea of eager haste in betaking oneself to the shelter, as when an invading army comes into a country, and the unarmed peasants take their portable belongings and their cattle, and catch up their children in their arms, and set their wives upon their mules, and make all haste to some fortified place; or as when the manslayer in Israel fled to the city of refuge, or as when Lot hurried for his life out of Sodom. There would be no dawdling then; but with every muscle strained, men would run into the stronghold, counting every minute a year till they were inside its walls, and heard the heavy door close between them and the pursuer. No matter how rough the road, or how overpowering the heat-no time to stop to gather flowers, or even diamonds on the road, when a moment’s delay might mean the enemy’s sword in your heart!
Now that metaphor is frequently used to express the resolved and swift act by which, recognising in Jesus Christ, who declares the name of the Lord, our hiding-place, we shelter ourselves in Him, and rest secure. One of the picturesque words by which the Old Testament expresses ‘trust’ means literally ‘to flee to a refuge.’ The Old Testament trust is the New Testament faith , even as the Old Testament ‘ Name of the Lord’ answers to the New Testament ‘ Name of Jesus .’ And so we run into this sure hiding-place and strong fortress of the name of the Lord, when we betake ourselves to Jesus and put our trust in Him as our defence.
Such a faith-the trust of mind, heart, and will-laying hold of the name of the Lord, makes us ‘righteous,’ and so capable of ‘dwelling with the devouring fire’ of God’s perfect purity. The Old Testament point of view was righteousness, in order to abiding in God. The New Testament begins, as it were, at an earlier stage in the religious life, and tells us how to get the righteousness, without which, it holds as strongly as the Old Testament, ‘no man shall see the Lord.’ It shows us that our faith, by which we run into that fortress, fits us to enter the fortress, because it makes us partakers of Christ’s purity.
So my earnest question to you all is-Have you ‘fled for refuge to lay hold’ on that Saviour in whom God has set His name? Like Lot out of Sodom, like the manslayer to the city of refuge, like the unwarlike peasants to the baron’s tower, before the border thieves, have you gone thither for shelter from all the sorrows and guilt and dangers that are marching terrible against you? Can you take up as yours the old grand words of exuberant trust in which the Psalmist heaps together the names of the Lord, as if walking about the city of his defence, and telling the towers thereof, ‘The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower’? If you have, then ‘because you have made the Lord your refuge, there shall no evil befall you.’
III. So we have, lastly, what comes of sheltering in these two refuges.
Or, as one of the old Puritan commentators has it: ‘The tower is so deep that no pioneer can undermine it, so thick that no cannon can breach it, so high that no ladder can scale it.’ ‘The righteous runneth into it,’ and is perched up there; and can look down like Lear from his cliff, and all the troubles that afflict the lower levels shall ‘show scarce so gross as beetles’ from the height where he stands, safe and high, hidden in the name of the Lord.
I say little about the other side. Brethren! the world in any of its forms, the good things of this life in any shape, whether that of money or any other, can do a great deal for us. They can keep a great many inconveniences from us, they can keep a great many cares and pains and sorrows from us. I was going to say, to carry out the metaphor, they can keep the rifle-bullets from us. But, ah! when the big siege-guns get into position and begin to play; when the great trials that every life must have, sooner or later, come to open fire at us, then the defence that anything in this outer world can give comes rattling about our ears very quickly. It is like the pasteboard helmet which looked as good as if it had been steel, and did admirably as long as no sword struck it.
There is only one thing that will keep us peaceful and unharmed, and that is to trust our poor shelterless lives and sinful souls to the Saviour who has died for us. In Him we find the hiding-place, in which secure, as beneath the shadow of a great rock, dreaded evils will pass us by, as impotent to hurt as savages before a castle fortified by modern skill. All the bitterness of outward calamities will be taken from them before they reach us. Their arrows will still wound, but He will have wiped the poison off before He lets them be shot at us. The force of temptation will be weakened, for if we live near Him we shall have other tastes and desires. The bony fingers of the skeleton Death, who drags men from all other homes, will not dislodge us from our fortress-dwelling. Hid in Him we shall neither fear going down to the grave, nor coming up from it, nor judgment, nor eternity. Then, I beseech you, make no delay. Escape! flee for your life! A growing host of evil marches swift against you. Take Christ for your defence and cry to Him,
‘Lo! from sin and grief and shame,
Hide me, Jesus! in Thy name.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
name = person. See note on Psa 20:1.
safe = set on high. Illustrations: Job (Job 19:25, Job 19:26); Habakkuk (Hab 3:17, Hab 3:19); Asa (2Ch 14:11); Hezekiah (2Ki 19:14-20, 2Ki 19:32-35. Isa 38:1-8); Apostles (Act 4:24-33).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 18:10
Pro 18:10
“The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; The righteous runneth into it, and are safe.”
“What a strong fortress is to the besieged, so is God to his persecuted, tempted and afflicted followers.
Pro 18:10. Many passages teach that God is a refuge: sometimes a tower, sometimes a rock, sometimes covering wings (2Sa 22:3; Psa 18:2; Psa 27:1; Psa 61:3-4; Psa 91:2 ff; Psa 144:2). The ancients had their fortified cities with their walls, big gates, and towers. Sometimes the enemy was able to break through the gates and batter down the walls. That left a tower to get up into for their final safety. The Lord is able to take care of us when other helpers fail.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
name: Gen 17:1, Exo 3:13-15, Exo 6:3, Exo 34:5-7, Isa 9:6, Isa 57:15, Jer 23:6, Mat 1:23, Rev 1:8
a strong: 2Sa 22:3, 2Sa 22:51, Psa 18:2, Psa 27:1, Psa 61:3, Psa 61:4, Psa 91:2, Psa 144:2, Isa 26:4
the righteous: Gen 32:11, Gen 32:28, Gen 32:29, 1Sa 30:6, 2Sa 22:45-47, Psa 56:3, Psa 56:4
safe: Heb. set aloft, Psa 91:14, Hab 3:19
Reciprocal: Gen 7:1 – Come Lev 26:5 – dwell Deu 33:27 – refuge 1Sa 17:45 – in the name 1Ki 20:22 – strengthen 1Ch 6:54 – castles 2Ch 14:11 – rest on thee Psa 3:5 – the Psa 9:9 – The Lord Psa 9:10 – know Psa 20:1 – name Psa 27:5 – hide Psa 46:1 – refuge Psa 52:9 – wait Psa 71:3 – my strong habitation Psa 143:9 – flee unto thee Pro 14:26 – his Pro 27:12 – General Pro 29:25 – whoso Ecc 7:12 – wisdom Isa 4:6 – tabernacle Isa 8:14 – he shall be Isa 14:32 – trust in it Isa 26:20 – enter Isa 33:16 – shall dwell Jer 16:19 – my strength Eze 11:16 – as a Dan 6:23 – because Joe 3:16 – hope Nah 1:7 – strong hold Hab 3:4 – the hiding Zep 2:3 – hid Joh 17:11 – thine 2Co 4:8 – yet Eph 6:16 – the shield
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
GODS KEEP
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Pro 18:10
Our Visitation Service seems to meet, or at least to suggest to us how to meet, a sick mans want in the short sentences which follow the Lords Prayer and are summed up in the prayer which follows them: O Lord! look down from heaven, behold, visit, and relieve this Thy servant. Look upon him with the eyes of Thy mercy, give him comfort and sure confidence in Thee, defend him from the danger of the enemy, and keep him in perpetual peace and safety; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The central thought of these sentences is in the image before us from the book of Proverbs. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. This is a striking picture of one who, feeling his inability to keep himself safe, and not knowing how many foes he has around him, flies to a place of well-known strength, and resting there is confident that he is secure.
St. Peter uses the same image when he speaks of Gods elect as kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. A keep is the stronghold of an ancient castle, and to be kept by the power of God is to be taken care of by Him in the stronghold of His might Who is almighty to save.
There are many other beautiful passages in which God enhances this thought and assures us of the strength of His salvation.
There is a time, many a time, in the Christians course for the vigorous action of all his powers; there is a time also, and the prostration of sickness is that time, for the quiet, still repose of his soul on the wisdom and the love and the almightiness of God. He cannot keep himself, but he can let himself be kept by His Father Who is in heaven.
Ah! you may say, but sickness is a time of natural depression. The nerves are unstrung. I feel, I cannot tell why, I feel low and miserable and restless, and hardly able to think at all of God and His comforts. When I am weak, writes St. Paul, then am I strong, because then he threw himself absolutely on the strength of God. Wounded, wearied, and distressed as the fugitive might be, yet in the castle keep he would be safe, and convinced of his safety, though he but lay still.
Saddened too, wearied and distressed as you are, yet in the stronghold of the Almighty and in the home of love you poor penitents are where no ill can come, and whence no power is able to drag you.
True it is that the time of your weakness is the time when, as the Service for the Sick suggests, the face of the enemy may be especially set against you; and it may be his temptation which, availing itself of your weakness, assaults and depresses you. But remember you are within the walls of salvation, he is without.
Abide in Christ, and you are equally safe from the lion that is going about to devour. You may hear his roar without, you may see his power upon those outside, you may know how much he desires to have you; but this need not disturb your peace, it may even increase it, as you cling the closer to your Saviour, and are more and more assured that where He is nigh no ill can come.
O God! Who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of Whom standeth our eternal life, Whose service is perfect freedom; defend us Thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in Thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Canon Francis Morse.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Pro 18:10-11. The name of the Lord That is, the Lord, as he hath revealed himself in his works, and especially in his word, by his promises, and the declarations of his infinite perfections, and of his good-will to his people; is a strong tower Is sufficient for our protection in the greatest dangers. The righteous By faith and prayer, devotion toward God, and dependance on him; run into it As their city of refuge. Having made sure of their interest in Gods name, they take the comfort and benefit of it: they go out of themselves, retire from the world, live above it, dwell in God and God in them, and so they are safe, as if they were in an impregnable fortress. They think themselves so, and they shall find themselves so. Observe, reader, there is enough in God, and in the discoveries which he has made of himself to us, to make us easy at all times. The wealth laid up in this tower is enough to enrich us, to be a continual feast, and a continuing treasure to us; the strength of this tower is enough to protect us; the name of the Lord, or that whereby he has made himself known as God, and as our God; his titles and attributes; his covenant, and all the promises of it, make up a tower, and a strong tower, impenetrable, impregnable, for us, if we be his people. This is necessary; for it is only the righteous that run into this tower, as is here stated, or that have access to it, according to Isa 26:2, which is signified to beat down the vain confidences of those who, though they live in a gross neglect and contempt of God, yet presume to expect salvation from him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:10 The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth {g} into it, and is safe.
(g) He shows the refuge of the godly against all trouble.