RUNNING TO SAFETY

The words of a worship chorus ran through my mind for several days in a row: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe.” Over and over the words came. When I got up in the morning I was singing them in my mind; during the day when I paused, there they were.

Am I the only one this has ever happened to? Or perhaps it’s the uplifting words of Kanye West or Taylor Swift that occupy your mind! (I’m just kidding . . . it’s just a poor attempt at humor!)

The words of this worship chorus are taken from Proverbs 18:10 (ESV). To fully understand this verse we also need to look at the next two verses.

10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
       the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
       and like a high wall in his imagination

12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,

     but humility comes before honor.

The “name of the Lord” is speaking of God in His completeness. He is not just God the creator, or the provider, or the merciful, or the just. He is God and He is all those and much, much more. When I mention the name of a person you have known for years, as some of you have known me, what immediately springs to mind? A mental picture of that person and with it the memories, the knowledge of who that person is, and what kind of person he is. This is what “the name of the Lord” is meant to convey, as complete a picture of God as we are capable of having and then some. His strengths, His character, His mercy . . . all of Him!

To visualize the “strong tower,” think of the high walls of a fortified castle. If you were one of the few who saw the movie Troy, you know that the Greeks could not defeat the city of Troy because of its high and unassailable walls. The only way the Greek army could get into the city was to resort to trickery. Because they could not get through or over the walls, they devised the Trojan horse. And so it is with God’s people when we run to the strong tower; the only way the enemy can get in is to trick us into opening the door.

“The righteous man runs.” The word runs is self-explanatory; it means haste, don’t mess around, quickly get where the protection is. I struggle in this area because I am a negotiator. I like to work things out and instead of throwing myself into God’s arms, I try to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the pain, of the problem. The “righteous man runs” means we drop that pretense and throw ourselves into God’s protection. It’s tough for the John Wayne spirit to do this but this “John Wayne” has messed up enough times to finally begin to learn that his way is not God’s way.

“Is safe” means to be lifted up out of harm’s way. This is a powerful promise for God’s people.  The name of the Lord (all of God) is committed to keeping His children “safe.”

Verse 11 stands in contrast to verse 10 and as such sets the meaning of the verse into a more clearly defined image.

When we speak of “a rich man’s wealth,” we are not speaking only of financial fortune. We are also speaking of all those who are rich in many other ways: in success, in celebrity, in education, in intelligence. The wealth they have amassed in the area of their endeavors becomes, in their mind, their fortress. Their mind tells them to believe that in that wealth, they can find the security they are hungering for.

The wealthy imagine that their abundance is providing them a protection that is “unscaleable” (verse 11). In their minds they believe, “Nothing can get to me, nothing can overcome the richness of what I possess, I’m secure here!” Those rich in intelligence think they can find a solution by using their vast mental resources. The successful entrepreneur believes that with dogged determination and a few more dollars, he can press ahead and find a way.

But verse 12 sets the pride-filled thinking of those who believe their “richness” will insulate them in perspective: “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.”

The majority of the American church in 2015 is a pride-filled church. There is no revival flowing in the land because of the failure of the Church to be obedient to 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

A great tragedy of the end-times Church is that it will not find the safety it seeks by trying to hide in its pride! We cannot hold on to pride and see the blessing of the Lord (see Isaiah 57:15).