God’s Keep
God’s Keep 8/2023
“The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).
Some people are obsessed with safety. A wealthy Australian in the late 1930’s, dismayed by signs that a global conflict was inevitable, decided to find a safe place to live and raise his family. He chose one of the small Solomon Islands in the South Pacific called … GUADALCANAL.
In the end there just are not many, if any, safe places in the world. But the child of God, by faith in Jesus, always has one sure foundation for protection. Cancer, divorce, persecution let come what may…. the Christian is never forsaken when they put their trust in God our stronghold. Solomon says it like this, “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). My friend, have you learned to run first to your fortified tower, the LORD for safety? Or do you get there only after you’ve fled to every place but him?
You’ve noticed many of God’s names in the Old Testament have military connotations…refuge, tower, fortress. That is because God was Israel’s ultimate defense in a land where they were surrounded by barbaric hordes. Nothing was more comforting than a good rock-solid tower to flee to. A tower so deep, thick, and tall no one could undermine it, penetrate it, or scale it.
So, it is today for you and me. “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower …” Ha-shem (Hebrew for name) stands for Jehovah himself as he has revealed himself to us in Scripture. Jesus Christ the Son of God, himself, is our safe place, not his angels, or prophets, not something created by him but he himself. You really do live every moment in the warm arms of a fully competent all-knowing supremely powerful God who thinks you are to die for. After all, he died for you and rose to be your safe place. And he can protect in amazing ways.
Ira Sankey was the gifted singer associated with evangelist D. L. Moody. While traveling on a steamer in the Delaware River he was asked by passengers to sing a song. Sankey obliged and sang the hymn by William Bradbury, “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” One of the stanzas begins, “We are thine, do thou befriend us; be the guardian of our way.”
When Ira finished, a man stepped out of the shadows and inquired, “Were you in the army, Mr. Sankey?” “Yes, I joined up in 1860.” “Did you ever do guard duty at night in Maryland, about 1862?” “Why yes, I did.” “Well, I was in the Confederate Army,” said the stranger. “I saw you one night at Sharpsburg. I had you in my gun sight as you stood there in the light of the full moon. Then just as I was about to pull the trigger, you began to sing. It was the same hymn you sang tonight,” the man told an astonished Sankey. “I couldn't shoot you.”
My friend, have you learned to run first to your fortified tower, the LORD?
Finding refuge in his keep with you,
Pastor Tim (1-210-837-3934)
Abiding Savior Lutheran Church 458 Turkey Trot Rd. Killeen, TX 76542
10am Sunday Worship / www.abidingsaviortx.com