The Name of the Lord- a fortress

Uni-verse 146/10,000 For better through verse Proverbs 18 v 10

The Name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe.


The Name of God is an important part of our faith-inheritance. A name symbolises everything a person stands for. The Name of God is revelatory knowledge. It cannot be searched and found. If you want to know my name, I must tell you. Similarly, Jehovah chose to reveal His Name to mankind. It reflects His unique identity, personality, character and power. Each name of God Jehovah is a tower of a fortress into which we can run into at different times. It is only the godly or the righteous that have the privilege of running into these towers. Our faith in Jesus that enables us to have a personal relationship with God qualifies us to be called righteous or godly. The name we inherit by virtue of our faith in Jesus enables us to dwell forever in the fortress of El Shaddai, the Almighty God. We inhabit a fortress whose foundation is rock and whose walls and ramparts are covered with the blood of the Lamb. We are called and expected to be mighty in the exercise of our faith towards all obstacles and opposition in our way.

We must place a guard at the entrance of our faith-fortress. The guard commander is truthfulness. The other members of the guard are goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, humility and love. Every fortress has an armoury where the weapons are kept. Our armoury is the Word of God- we must constantly use and practice the Word like a soldier practices with a sword. Our dwelling place in the fortress is Jehovah Shalom- the God of wholeness, peace,assurance, blessedness,salvation, prosperity, grace and abundance. He is also Emmanuel and Ebenezer. He gives us company or fellowship and helps us in all our righteous pursuits.

When the fortress is under attack by a powerful enemy, that is when we run to the towers. When we are attacked by need run to the tower of Jehovah Jireh who will supply what we need. When we are attacked by sickness, run to the tower of Jehovah Rapha, the One who heals. When we are under threat from our mortal or spiritual enemies, run to the tower of Jehovah Nissi, the One who gives us victory and does not allow our enemies to triumph over us. When we are concerned about the security or well being of someone who lives outside the fortress, run to the tower of Jehovah Shammah, the One who is God of the near and the far. We must lay a deep moat around the fortress of insulating or separating ourselves from the evil influences of the world. Every faith-fortress must have a banquetting hall where we celebrate, where we are joyful and praise and sing to the Lord. God also says, " I am not limited to just these Names for I am who I AM." He can be anything He needs to be in order to preserve us,to protect us, to provide for us or to promote us. We can be absolutely secure in Him. The Maslowian hierarchy of needs -security, esteem and self or soul realization needs- are met at one shot in the person and mission of the Messiah, the Redeemer God who purchases us back with His own precious Blood from the abductor of our souls. Once we are safe inside the fortress, we must not forget our brethren outside but we must command the enemy ," Let His people go."

Prateep V Philip