The Strong Tower We Run To
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs to it and is safe and set on high [far above evil].” (Proverbs 18:10, AMP)
The church I grew up in had several worship teams throughout the decades I spend there. One worship leader’s name was Dolores. She only lead very occasionally, when there was a rare gap in worship leaders’ schedules, but when she did, she was always on an acoustic guitar.
Dolores is a genuine flower child, saved after her wild days in the 60s, but her style of worship was still very “Stevie Nicks found the joy of the Lord.” She always sang songs that no one else did. One of them was this exact scripture, and there weren’t too many other words than that. But I cannot hear that scripture without hearing her singing it with that strummy guitar behind her.
So what does it mean? It’s obviously metaphorical about the strength and protection of the Lord towards His people, but how is it practically applied?
Some point to it as proof that simply wielding the name of the Lord assigns a power to us in a way that overreaches. Yes, we can call on the name of the Lord and receive grace and all the benefits that come with it (Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13). But calling on the name of the Lord does not grant us any specific power that is greater or more impressive than the power of the Lord Himself. We can’t just use the name of Jesus like a genie in a lamp, “speaking into existence” anything that we desire or deem necessary.
That would be assigning a strength and a might to ourselves that is not meant for us, and is wholly God’s. It would be a gross neglect of God’s will, which is forever superior to ours– and should be regarded by us as such.
No, instead, when Solomon mentions the name of the Lord as being a strong tower, he is referring to God’s character. He is not teaching his son some ethereal spiritual warfare to use as he pleases, but he is trying to impart insight into God’s character.
God is a strong tower. His name is strong. It is mighty to save and protect those who call upon Him. Those who follow Him and walk in His righteousness can run to their God and be safe. They can live in peace without worry of the evil that prowls outside the strong tower and His protection.
This month, wildfires have been raging across the state of Oregon where we live. The small town I live in is not currently in danger of needing firefighting intervention, but when the wind changes, the smoke from surrounding fires loves to pool into our valley. As I write this now, the air quality index is at 170, which is considered an unhealthy level. Businesses are choosing not to open tomorrow, people are trying to stay inside, and those with breathing issues are feeling exasperated.
When we pray with Piper and Lily at night, we pray for those affected by the wildfires, and we thank God for His supremacy. We thank Him for being a God that sets limits for His creation; who created things like the oceans or wildfires and shows them their boundaries and where they cannot go any further (Job 38:8-11).
Nature obeys the Lord. Most of the time, much better than we do. But when uncertain things happen to us, like wildfires, we can run to our strong tower of a God and hide in Him, because whether that fire devours my house or misses it entirely, God’s strength and sovereignty does not change. We can lean on our mighty God and have hope. We can run to Him with whatever we are going through and He is steady and sure like a fortress to protect us and lead us by His will.
And ultimately, that is far more useful to us as a spiritual warfare tactic than trying to harness God’s power via His name as we deem. And it’s much more consistent with the wisdom of other scripture, like leaning on the Lord with all our hearts, acknowledging Him in every path of life we venture down by His grace (Proverbs 3:5-6) and allowing God to be our help in times of need (Psalm 124).
The name of the Lord says a lot about His character. When we call on it, we are reminding ourselves of what He has already told us He is. It only helps us insofar as we know our Bible. The name of the Lord is all over the Bible– it has many iterations. God is a provider, He is victorious, He is peace, He is our Shepherd, He is righteous, He is with us.
The list quite honestly goes on and on. But it’s no help to us unless we know God’s Word. It’s no help if we don’t know the God we claim to be saved by.
“Sit down a little at the fountain, and you will quickly have a farther discovery of the sweetness of the streams. You who have run from him, will not be able, after a while, to keep at a distance for a moment” (John Owen, Of Communion with God).
Sit down at the fountain that is our God and the Word He has given to us. Learn who He is, not who you want Him to be or who someone else told you He is. Sit down with the Source. He is love and He wants you to be comforted by His character.
In our sin, we may run from Him, rage against Him, hide from Him, and toss Him aside. But once His grace is extended to us, we should have a desire to sit with Him and discover the fullness of Him. What we once ran from in the flesh suddenly becomes a strong tower to us, something that we can run towards and into for safety and peace, which is more and more of Himself.
