Proverbs 18, 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe. So there's not many Proverbs that I know of that have a known story behind them. And this proverb is different. We have a direct connection to a Pacific person and possibly a Pacific event in this person's life. So 1 Samuel 22 verse 1 states, Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. The God is my strength in whom I will trust, my shield and horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence. And then you drop down to verse 33. It's repeated again. God is my strength and power and he makes my way perfect. So this is a song that David wrote. possibly linking to a Pacific event. There's no really way of knowing. One of the events in David's life was Saul and his gang was chasing David up a mountain. They were on one side, and David and his gang was fleeing up the other side of the mountain. And basically, David was about to be surrounded up on this mountain, up high on this mountain. And then a message came to Saul that the Philistines were invading. So Saul and his army had to pull away and David was therefore safe again. So there's a possible connection to this, but we do know from Psalms 21 verse one that this Psalm, this song that David wrote is from the day he was delivered. Now this song or psalm became part of the songs of the nation of Israel. Psalms 18, word for word. To the chief musician, a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, Verse one, I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my shield and my horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and so I shall be saved from my enemies. So there's a direct connection from, you can see from the words of Psalms 18.10 to this song that David wrote. Next we'll look at the context and the subject of Proverbs 18.10, as if you want to turn in your Bibles to Proverbs 18.10. The context, or Proverbs chapter 18, is Proverbs, the Proverbs are of Solomon, that exalt righteous living. So the context is, the whole chapter is, righteous living is exalted. And the subject of verse 10 is the safety of the Lord. Chapter 18, verses 10, 11, the godly run to the Lord when in trouble. The godly run to the Lord when in trouble. So let's take a quick look at some of the words in our verse. As I studied this verse out, the question that popped into my brain was, why did Solomon use this phrase, the name of the Lord? Why didn't he just say, the Lord is a strong tower? So I took a closer look at the word name, which is the Hebrew, which is, and it looks like the Hebrew word, and the Hebrew word is translated and can mean name, standing, reputation, or fame. It is the proper designation of a person, place, or thing, or noun, fame, known, or reputation. The concept of personal names in the Old Testaments often excludes existence, character, and reputation. So by using the phrase, the name of the Lord, Solomon is bringing to mind the whole self-disclosure of God, in this case, Yahweh, to us. The Bible Knowledge Commentary put it this way, The righteous turn to the name of the Lord, that is, to his revealed character. The righteous turn to the name of the Lord, and they're turning to his revealed character. Next, they looked up the word Oz, I'm sorry, strong, And it means, which is the Hebrew word OZ or AZ depending on what form it's in. So it means strength, power and might. It's a condition in which one can exert great force or withstand great force. It also has the focus of doing or having the ability to do what is desired or intended or necessary. Strength, power, and might. In this case, we'll see that withstanding a great force is kind of what Solomon was going after here. The word tower means refuge, stronghold, watchtower. And what this is suggesting is security and protection in a high, safe place. You're high up. The people that are trying to do you harm have to come up towards you. The next word I want to discuss is the word run. The righteous run to it and are safe. This word run R-U-S in the Hebrew means hurry, do quickly, perform an action with a special focus in a hurried manner. It also can mean make a linear motion with a focus that the movement is swift or intense. This isn't a, let's take a stroll down the path on our way. Let's quickly, with intensity, go someplace. And what's cool about this word, it's in the imperfect aspect. And the imperfect aspect, depending on context, it means habitual actions, or actions that are in progress, or even completed actions that have ongoing results. An action that can be viewed in process, the present, or even the future. So I thought about this, is how do I put this in today's vernacular? And the phrase, to make a beeline for, popped into my head. The other day, for an example, I missed lunch because I had to work through lunch. So I drove home and I made a beeline for the fridge. There was nothing else going on in my head. I wasn't stopping to pet the dogs. I didn't even say hi to my family. I went to the fridge. So I made a beeline. So this is what I, when I picture this, is we're making a beeline. We're not distracted by anything else. It's focused. Let's go, let's make a beeline for this. So in light of that, I believe we can say the righteous have made it a habit to quickly and purposely run to the revealed character of the Lord. We can also say the righteous make it a habit to quickly and purposely run to the revealed character of the Lord. And we can also say the righteous will make it a habit to run quickly and purposely run to the name of the real character of the Lord. Past, present, and future. Next word I want us to talk about is the word safe. Safe means to be be safe. It's translated to be kept safe, to be exalted, to be safely set on high. This is a high position that implies an inaccessibility. This is why in other translations, the name of Yahweh is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are protected. The Net Bible says it this way, the name of the Lord is like a strong tower. The righteous person runs to it and is set safely on high. So as I thought about this, here's Solomon, this Proverbs is attributed to Solomon, but as he was thinking of this, who could he think of as a person, a righteous person that runs, made it a habit to run to the Lord? And I don't know for sure, but I'd make an assumption that David, his father, was a prime example of a righteous person that continually made it a habit to run to the Lord. David, a man after God's own heart, certainly experienced this truth. In 1 Samuel 13, 14, Samuel is telling Saul that the Lord has sought for himself, not Saul, a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. In Acts 13, 22, It says, and when he had received him, he raised up from them David as king, to whom also he gave testimony, that I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. David is the youngest in his family. He was assigned the most menial tasks. In fact, he wasn't even invited when Samuel said, to Jesse, bring all your sons so that I can anoint one to be the next king. Yet he became the second king of Israel. And not only that, he became an absolute standard of righteousness kings of the nation of Judah and Israel. He was also exalted to the point that the Messiah is from the line of David. One of the aspects of being the Messiah is you had to be ascendant of King David. The next example I thought of was Moses. How many times did Moses run to the Lord when he was in trouble or having difficulty with the nation of Israel? He made a habit of running to the name of the Lord in times of trouble, and he was safely set on high by the Lord. Obvious example that came to my mind was Job. Job, another righteous person that went through some things, but he was kept safe because of his habit of running to the Lord. Job 1.1 says, There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. The man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. Last person I'll mention is Daniel. Daniel certainly qualifies as a righteous person that had a habit of running to the Lord. Throughout the book of Daniel, Daniel 2.18, in that day, Daniel and his friends might seek the mercies from God on heaven concerning his secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Daniel in the wine's den. Daniel 6.20 states, 6.10, now Daniel knew when the writing was signed, he went home and in his upper room with his windows open towards Jerusalem and he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as his custom was since the early days. And we know the story. The king came to, Daniel spent the night in the lion's den, and this king came and spoke to Daniel. Servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Another example of somebody that was a righteous, kept running to the Lord, and he was safe. Daniel not only was saved, you could say he was exalted. He went from captive to number two in, I believe, two empires, if I remember correctly. So how does this proverb apply to us today? First, we can look back at the three saints I just mentioned, and there are many more. And one thing I noticed as I looked at this verse, and I noticed the consistency of these righteous people. When they found themselves in any trouble at all, they quickly and purposefully made a beeline to the Lord. And this was the first option. This wasn't second, third, or even a fourth option. Their first option was to quickly make a beeline to the Lord. I was challenged by this verse. And I would like to challenge you with this question. Is it a habit for you to quickly and purposely run to the Lord, to run to the revealed character of the Lord when you're in trouble? Can I say of you, can I say of me in your Christian walk, they had a habit of running to the Lord. Can I say of you currently, or myself currently, I, or you, do you have a habit of running to the Lord? In hopeful future, they will have, somebody in the future will say they had, or they will, we will have a habit of running to the revealed truth of the Lord. So how does this verse fit into the next question that popped into my head is, what about the ones that aren't so safe? In Hebrews 11, we hear about people, the Hall of Fame of Faith, others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. that they may attain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mocking and scourging, and yes, of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, and they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goats, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained good testament through faith, did not receive the promise. As I thought about this, it has occurred to me that us as believers in the church age, we are secure and safely set on high in the spiritual aspect. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. So no matter what happens to us down here physically, we are going to spend eternity in heaven with the Lord. We are saved from the penalty of sins because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what he accomplished for each and every one of us. He died on the cross paying my penalty. He died on the cross paying your penalty for the sin that we do, not his. This penalty had to be paid because that's the price of sin, death. We had no way in any way, shape, or form that we could pay our own penalty, so it had to be done by somebody else. We are not righteous at any shape or form. In fact, when we try to be righteous, the Lord considers them filthy rags. The just penalty for sin is death, which is a separation. In this case, it's you and me as sinners from an absolutely righteous God. Because God is love, and his love caused Jesus Christ to be willing to suffer for us, and pay our penalty for our sins. So we, as a gift, can have eternal life with Him in heaven. At the moment of salvation, our eternal destiny is heaven. We are eternally safe and secure in a high place, it can't get much higher, that no enemy or foe can reach us. We are inaccessible to them. Human history is full of righteous believers that have suffered and died for their faith, but we know from the Word of God they are now safe. They have been safely set on high in heaven. As we run to the safety of the Lord in trouble, it may be that the Lord's will for you and me is to suffer, and maybe even suffer to the point of death, of physical death. When the Apostle Paul thought about this, he came to the conclusion, the suffering that we endure in this world is nothing compared to what we have in store for us as believers. The main takeaway for me, and I believe the takeaway, I'd like to put it this way, is the righteous, of this verse, the righteous, as I conclude here, the righteous have a habit of running to the Lord. I came up with this one little saying here, and I thought it was pretty good and funny. Make a habit of making a beeline to the safety of the Lord. Is what I took out of the study of this verse, and hopefully that I communicated that to you through the examples given. Tonight we saw from Proverbs 18.10 that in the name of the Lord, His revealed character is a strong tower that the righteous make a beeline for. We look at some examples of righteous people that quickly and purposely went to the revealed character of the Lord in times of trouble and they were safe. I am personally challenged by this verse by the fact that this was a lifetime, lifelong, lifetime habit of these people, and I hope to emulate them in that way. Proverbs 18.10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous purposely, quickly, habitually run to it and are safe.