Let us turn then to God's word. And our text is found in the
book of Proverbs. In the book of Proverbs chapter
18 and verse 10. Here is a scripture that you
are not unfamiliar with. A well known verse, one of the
better known verses in the whole of the book of Proverbs chapter
18. and verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the
righteous runneth into it and is safe. The name of the Lord
is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. The verse is found here in Proverbs,
part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, a remarkable
book which contains the great sayings of Solomon and much wisdom
with regards to the affairs of life. But of course the book
also bears a spiritual interpretation. In other words, like every other
part of Scripture, the book speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, search the Scriptures, for in them ye think that ye
have eternal life, and these are they that testify of mercy. All of the Scriptures Every book
of scripture bears testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ and
we certainly see him here in the book of Proverbs, is he not
there, in chapter 8, a chapter that speaks to us of the excellency
of wisdom does not wisdom cry and understanding put forth a
voice. Who is that one who is wisdom?
The Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of, remember, by Paul at the
end of the first chapter in 1 Corinthians, of Him, i.e. in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. He is made unto us wisdom. If we lack wisdom, we are to
ask of God, who gave us to all men liberally and who prayed
us not. But in whom is that heavenly
wisdom seated? It is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And clearly Christ is the one who is spoken of here in the
8th chapter. Look at what he says. There,
at verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way,
before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, was I brought forth. And then again at verse 30, Then
was I by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his
delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable
part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. Here
we have him then who is clearly the Eternal One. Before ever the earth was, he
said. and he speaks of himself as that
one who was brought forth. In verse 24, again in verse 25,
he is eternally begotten, the eternally begotten son of the
Father, brought forth before ever there was any creation. That is his relationship with
the Father, is it not, in the garden. The Father is the one
who begets, and the Son is the eternally begotten of the Father,
the one who is full of grace and of truth. We see the Lord
Jesus Christ here, certainly here in chapter 8 of the Proverbs. We see something of the glories
that belong unto him, and he says that his delights are with
the sons of men. Although he begot, yet in the
eternal covenant and we delight in that people that the Father
gives to him, that he might come in the fullness of the time to
redeem them from all iniquity. He is spoken of, and he is the
one who is spoken of here in the text, is he not? We read
here of a strong tower of safety. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower the righteous runneth into it and is silent. Well, let us turn to consider
the content of this particular verse and to seek to draw out
something of what is being said in these words. First of all,
to observe the strong tower that is spoken of in the first clause. There are two clauses in the
verse. looking at those opening words saying the name of the
Lord is a strong tower. Now we observe at the outset
that we do not have a similar here. It doesn't say the name
of the Lord is as a strong tower. But very literally it says the
name of the Lord is a strong tower. There are certain verses
which the translators of our authorised version have rendered
in such a way as to indicate that they reckon that the statement
is asimilar. For example in Lamentations chapter
3 and verse 45 we read these words, Thou hast made us as the
offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Words, of course, that are written
at the time of the Babylonian exile. God's people, God's ancient
covenant people, Israel, have been cast out. They've been removed
into captivity. And in that book of the Lamentations,
what is the Prophet doing? He's lamenting. The sad state
of affairs. The desolations of Jerusalem.
the condition of God's ancient people. And he makes that statement
in chapter 3, Thou hast made us as. But it's interesting that
the word as there is actually in italics. In other words, the
translators have introduced that word, more literally it says,
not Thou hast made us as, but Thou hast made us, the offscaling.
and refuse in the midst of the people. The original Hebrew is
much stronger than we find the verse as we have it here in our
English Bible. And again in another scripture
in Psalm 73 and verse 22, the Psalmist cries out to God, so
foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before the... I was
as a beast, you see. Yet again we see that that little
word is in italics, in other words it's been introduced by
the translators, more literally he says, so foolish was I and
ignorant I was a beast before thee. That's how he feels, that's
what he thinks of himself. He's not just like unto the brute
creature, he is a brute, because of his folly, the folly of his
sin, because of the ignorance of his way. There are then these verses that
have been interpreted in that particular way. They're reading
in a reverse, in a simile. But it's noticeable, is it not,
in this particular verse that we're considering. The name of
the Lord, it doesn't say the name of the Lord is as a strong
town. But the name of the Lord is a
strong town. The Hebrew then is very forceful,
very direct, very pointed. Now what does it mean? Well,
are we not reminded of the significance of the Lord's name? It's His
name that He sent to be a strong tower. Now what is God's name? God's name of course is a declaration,
a revelation of what God is. That is the importance of lines
as we have them in the Old Testament Scriptures. We've said these
previous times. There are wonderful examples
of that. We can think of Rachel. How she longed, how she yearned
for a child. She was barren. And how God,
in his goodness and in his mercy, granted her what she desired.
and so we read of the birth of Joseph and then she is recharged
again and she gives birth to a second son in Genesis 35 but
remember how with that second child she dies, she dies in childbirth
and as she dies she says she wants to call the son Ben-O-Ni,
Ben-O-Ni. He is the son of my silence.
But the father Jacob doesn't call him Ben-O-Ni. Jacob gives
him the name Benjamin, the son of my right hand. All the significance
of the name is there. She wants to call it Benoni. It's her own experience. She's
sorrowful. She died. She won't see this child. The Lord will take her. But Jacob
calls him Benjamin, the son of his right hand. And then again, with the prophet
Elijah, his very name of course, is part of his message. Here
is Israel sunk in idolatry. They are Baal worshippers. And suddenly the Lord God raises
up this Tishbosh and he bursts on the scene in 1 Kings chapter
17 and his very name Elijah. Jehovah is God. All the true
God is the law. and the very name that he bears
then is part of that message that he must convey to the people.
And then in the ministry of Isaiah in the 8th chapter of his prophecy,
his wife is with a child and is told to give this son a most
peculiar name, Meher Shalal Ashbat. That's what he's got to call
this son. What a mouthful of a name, Meher Shalal Ashbat. It's a message. Make haste to
the spoiled. Hasten to the pride. It's a message
to the kings of Syria and Israel who are in league against the
little kingdom of Judah. But they are going to be overthrown
by the might of the Assyrians. And this child's name, you see,
it's a message to those kings. All the Assyrians have been called
to the pride to make house, to fall upon Israel and Syria and
so it was, so it was. We know how the Northern Kingdom
of Israel was indeed overthrown by the might of the Assyrians
and taken into exile. And just little Judah is left
in the sand. But the message you see, the
message of God is there in the name that the prophet gives to
the child that is to be born. And so too with regards to the
Lord God. We have his name here in the
text. The name of the Lord. The name Jehovah. It's Lord as
is so often the case here in the Old Testament. Lord in capital
letters. It's a covenant name. It's a
name Jehovah is what God said concerning himself, it's the
great I AM who revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush. He's the unchanging God, I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not concerned. God's name then, what does it
do? It declares to us God's character.
His name is a revelation. His name tells us something with
regards to himself. And this name, Lord, simply means
I am. He is the unchanging God. He is the same yesterday and
today and forever. Though we know change and decay
on every hand, yet God never changes. He is the same now as
He was in those days when the Lord Jesus Christ was here upon
the earth. He is the same now as He was
at the beginning of creation when He called all things into
being out of nothing. He hasn't changed. He is Heavenly Almighty God.
And He is the God of the Covenant, you see. Oh, this is a strong
tower. It's not only the character of
God but it's the fact that he is the God of the covenant. This
is the covenant name that we have. This is that name, as I
said, that he made known in a very special way unto Moses in Exodus
chapter 3. Now, he is there previous to
that as the Lord, as Jehovah, but now he comes and he reveals
himself in the most remarkable fashion so later in Exodus chapter
6 we read these words Exodus 6 verse 3 I appeared unto
Abraham and unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty
but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them And I have also
established my covenants with them, to give them the land of
Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom
the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenants."
What do we see here? Well, we see that this name Jehovah
is very much bound up with the covenants. And he found out with
that that God had purposed and God had promised that he would
give the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed. It is the promised land, is it
not? The land that was promised in the eternal covenant. And
God says now, and we have heard the groaning of the children
of Israel Oh yes, he will be inquired of by his people. They
must come and they must pray. And had not Israel prayed to
him in the midst of all their trials and all their troubles,
had they been brought to cry to him, to groan and to moan
under the bondage which was Egypt? But they did not cry in vain.
God heard. He is the God of the Covenant. And what does God do? We see
how God comes again to to Moses in Exodus 34 this is after the
awful sin of the people in the matter of the golden car when
God would disinherit them and God would take Moses and make
another nation but Moses stands in the breach and Moses pleads
for them and God is pleased to hear him as the mediator and
to come again and to visit them and to establish them and what
does God do? In Exodus 34 we see how God proclaims His name. He proclaims His name unto Moses. Verse 5 there, the Lord descended
in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name
of the Lord. The Lord, again we see how it's
the name Jehovah, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
there and proclaimed the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed
by before him and proclaimed the Lord. The Lord God merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilt visiting
the iniquity of the fathers and upon the children's children
unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste
and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. And he
said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my
Lord, I pray thee, go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people.
pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for thine inheritance.
Oh, as God comes and proclaims his name as he reveals himself
again as the God of the covenant. Oh, Moses is moved to cry. He has had to plead. He can plead
the character of this God. This is the Lord, you see. It
is the covenant name of God that we have here that is spoken of
by Solomon, the name of the Lord. or this God. This God of the
Covenant is a strong tower. But we not only see here the
character of God and the Covenant name of God, but are we not reminded
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself? Isn't the Lord Jesus Christ the
great messenger of the Covenant? There at the end of the Old Testament
in Malachi chapter 3 we read, O the messenger of the covenant
shall come. Who is the messenger of the covenant?
It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the shorter of a better
testament or a better covenant as we read in Hebrews chapter
7 and verse 22. And then again in chapter 9 of
Hebrews, Paul speaks of Christ as the mediator of the New Testament
or the mediator of the New Covenant. It is in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ that we see the God of the Covenant. Doesn't God say concerning the
angel that is to go before the children of Israel, as they are
brought forth out of Egypt and God will guide and direct them
in all their ways. In Exodus chapter 23 we read
of the angel that goes before them, the angel who is there
in that pillar of fire and that pillar of smoke. Exodus 23 verse
21 God says, My name is in him. My name is in him. And that is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the name of the Lord. All we see and do
when we come to the New Testament, He is Jehovah. How John brings
it out time and again in his Gospel, takes that very expression
that God declares concerning Himself the Great I Am, and we
have all those I Am statements, I, I am the wine, the truth and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall go in and out and find pasture. This
morning we referred to those words in the eleventh of John.
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth
and believeth on me shall never die. All believers say this. The Lord Jesus, you see, is the
one who is the strong teller, that one in whom God's name is. He is God. Behold, a virgin shall
be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel, which is by interpretation God with us. His name His name. Again there in Isaiah chapter
9, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. There
we see the two natures of course. The Son, the Eternal Son is the
one who is given. The Eternal Son is not born.
He is that one who is eternally generated as we see In the 8th
chapter of Proverbs, eternally brought forth, all the son he's
given, the child he's born. The Holy Ghost descends upon
Mary, the power of the highest overshadows her, and what is
conceived in her womb, that holy thing, that human nature, joined
to the eternal Son of God, unto us a child he's born. Unto us
a son he's given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and
his name, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. That's his
name. Oh, the name of the Lord is a
strong tower, you say. They shall call his name Jesus,
says the angel. That's his human name. He shall
save his people. from their sins. He is the great,
the blessed, Jehovah Jesus. The sign yesterday, and today,
and forever. This is the one then that is
spoken of here in the opening clause of the text. The name
of the Lord. For the name of the Lord declares
to us the very character of God. who God is, what God is. But
it's the covenant name of the Lord. And who is the messenger
and the mediator of the eternal covenant? Is it not the Lord
Jesus Christ himself? The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. And so we come to the second
clause, and what do we see concerning this strong tower? It is a place
of safety. It is a place of safety. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. The margin says, and is set aloft. The righteous runneth into it
and is set aloft. We read those words in Psalm
61. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I, or to be set aloft. Lead
me to the rock that is higher than I, for there must be a shelter
for me, and a strong tower from the enemy, I will abide in thy
tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covenant
of thy wings. It's the same. It's the same
truth that we have there in the psalm as we have here in the
Proverbs. It's the same precious truth
that we also have, of course, in that portion that we read
in the 26th chapter of Isaiah. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will guide a point for wolves and boars. And so the chapter
opens, but then at the end, what do we read? Come, my people,
enter thou into thy chamber, and shut thy doors about thee,
hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation
be overcome, for the righteous runneth into it, and is silent. Here is the sinner's refuge,
is it not? It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in the God of the Covenant.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of
trouble, we read in Psalm 46, and of course it's that Psalm
that Luther takes and really is the basis of his great hymn,
My Festerbirth. The safe stronghold and God is
still. Time and again you see in these
psalms we read of that place of safety, that place of security.
It's that strong tower. And the righteous runneth into
it and is safe. What are we to understand by
this running? What is it to run? The righteous
runneth, it says. Runneth into the strong tower. Runneth into the name of the
Lord. That's where the righteous run. But how is it that they run into
this place of safety, this place of security? Well, isn't this
what faith does? Faith makes haste to the place
of sight. Faith doesn't procrastinate,
doesn't put it off. There's an urgency in faith.
The psalmist says, I that know thy name will put their trust
in thee, if we know the name of God. If we know anything of
God's character, anything of God as He has revealed Himself
to us in the covenant of grace, anything of that full and final
revelation that we see with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the great work that He has accomplished. Oh, if we know
that name, surely we must be those who are putting our trust
there. We're running there. and none will keep us away from
that place. This is where we want to go.
We know that this is the only place of safety. Why there is
salvation in none other? There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. Oh, what a precious thing to
have that faith that runs to Christ. That is the faith that is truly
of the operation of God. That is the faith that gives
a man legs to run, and to run after Christ, and to run to Christ,
and to run into Christ. That is saving faith. That is
not the faith that a man is able to weave, as it were, out of
his own barely like the spider might weave its web. It's that faith that we read
of at the end of Isaiah 50. You is 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 door. Behold all they that kindle the
fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks walking the
light of your fire and the sparks that ye have kindled ye shall
ye have at mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow." It is the
contrast you see. Here are those who make their
own fire as it were. Those who want to make their
own religion. Who think that they can give
themselves fire. And it's all in vain as we see there in verse
11. They lie down in sorrow. All
but those that fear the Lord. Those that are walking in darkness.
And they have no life. Why? There's nothing in themselves.
They're all weakness. And all their strength is in
the Lord and so they must go to Him. They must run to Him. This is what running is, it's
fine. It's feeling our complete and our utter inability to do
anything of ourselves. This is the paradox, is it not,
of faith. We have no legs to run and yet,
run we must. Because this is the only place
where salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is the running? It's faith. It's prayer also,
is it not? It's prayer. We see that so clearly in those
opening words of the psalm that we read. Like so many of the
psalms, Psalm 61 is very much a prayer. Hear my cry, O God! Attend unto
my prayer! From the end of the earth will
I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed And then what
is his plan? Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. Oh come Lord God and set me on
high. Set me in that place of safety
for there has been a shelter for me and a strong tower from
the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle
forever. I will trust in the coverage
of thy zeal. This prayer that we have there
in that psalm, it's the language of prayer, it's the psalmist
pleading with God and he doesn't cry in vain oh
God is the one surely who hears and answers the prayer of his
people how how does one enter then into
this place of sight into this blessed strong tower which is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. It is by faith, it
is by the prayer of faith. The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. O God, grant that
we might be those who know the truth of that scripture. We will
brook no denial. We are those who are the true
seed of Jacob. We are the real spiritual Israel.
I will not let them go until they bless me. This is what it
means to run. To run into the place of safety. But who are the righteous? Look at that second clause. We
are told what they do, but we are told who these characters
are also. The righteous, runners into it and is safe. Who are the righteous? Well,
Dr. Gill makes a very simple statement.
He says, not the self-righteous person. They run from Christ. You see, the self-righteous has
no need of Christ. He runs away from Christ. Look at what we are told subsequently
here. Concerning those who, we might
say, have some riches, have something of their own that they can trust
in, verse 11, the rich man's wealth is his strong sitter,
and as an high wall in his own conceit, before destruction the
heart of man is haunted, and before honour is humiliated. That character spoken of in verse
11, then that's a self-righteous man. He can make provision for
himself. He's not dependent upon another. He doesn't need to run
to the place of safety. But he's proud. And before destruction
the heart of man is faulty, it says in verse 12. All this righteous one spoken
of in our text then, He is that one spoken of at the end of verse
12, before honour is humility is humble. He has no righteousness
of his own. He needs the righteousness of
another. He is as the Apostle is in heart.
His desire is this, to be found in Christ, not having his own
righteousness which is of the Lord, but that which is through
the face of Christ. the righteousness which is of
God by faith. And that's why the Lord Jesus
Christ came, is it not? That's why He was made not only
of a woman, but made under the law. Oh yes, to redeem them that
were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of
sons. He has paid their redemption price. He has paid that debt
that they owed to the holy and righteous Lord of God. He has
died in the room and in the stead of sinners. And who is this while
he was dying? It's the righteous man. Because
the Lord Jesus Christ in his life fulfilled all righteousness.
He was obedient to every command and every precept of God. There was no sin in him. He doesn't
die for his own sin. All the wages of sin is death,
but there is no sin there. How can he die? Why he dies as
the sins of his people are imputed to him. He dies as their sacrifice. And he must die. As we sang this
morning, himself he cannot die. Because he is the substitute. but not only in his death does he save his people. He pays
there that redemption price, but in his life, in that obedient
life that he lives, he fulfills all righteousness. And it is
that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that is imputed
to his people. Their sins are reckoned to his
account. He dies as their substitute. But in exchange for their sins
he gives them his righteousness. And this is their justification.
Remember how Jeremiah speaks of his name? Or remember the
text? The name of the Lord? What is
the Lord's name? This is his name whereby he shall
be called. The Lord, our righteousness. And so who are these righteous
characters? who run into him. Jeremiah 33
verse 16, this is the name wherewith she shall be called the Lord
our righteousness. It's not only his name, it's
also her name. It's the name of the church,
it's the name of the bride of Christ. Just as still in a marriage
ceremony, the spouse takes the name of her husband so the church
takes the name of Christ the name is the Lord our righteousness
who then are these righteous ones who are running into the
Lord Jesus Christ? they are those who have no righteousness
of their own And they need the righteousness of another and
they feel that need. They are sinners. They are sinners. And they need salvation. And
they see that the salvation that they desire can be found in none
other than in the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteous runneth
into it. The righteous runneth into it. Isn't this what faith does? Faith
runs into the Lord Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. It's interesting that in
is very literally into. There in John 3.16. The preposition
has that strength. That he should ever believe us
in him, us into him, very literally, into him. In the hymn 234, we see the significance of that,
believing him to the Lord Jesus Christ. but he that into Christ
believes, what of each faith has he in Christ, he moves and
acts and lives from self and bondage free, he has the Father
and the Son, for Christ and he are now but one. Ought to be
in that strong tower, that place of safety, that place of security
ought to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. To have that sort of
faith that He to us is all and in all is everything. Who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption that He the Glorious must glory in the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. the righteous run us into it
and is safe. Oh God grant that we each and
all might know what it is to run and to run by faith and by
prayer into Christ. The Lord bless his work.