“The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10
Most all of us can remember being afraid of “the boogie man” when we were children. For me, he was that invisible monster under my bead. I can remember walking out of my room, turning out the lights and then making a bee-line straight to my dad’s leg on which I’d wrap myself around. Turning back to that dark bedroom I would stick my tongue out toward “the monster.” It was my childlike way of letting the boogie man know I was safe and wasn’t scared of him in that place of safety.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we have a safe place that we can run to any and every time we feel afraid, and that place in found in the Name of the Lord. Proverbs 18:10 calls it a “strong fortress” and says that in Him we are safe.
So how is this safety found in His name? It starts with the understanding that the Name of the Lord is, to us, whatever we need. God’s name throughout the Old Testament took on different meanings based on the needs of the people. For instance, during those lonely hours of tending his father’s sheep, David came to know God as Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd) and wrote about it in Psalm 23. Abraham, when climbing up the mountain to sacrifice his son, Isaac, came to know God as Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide) as God provided at ram caught in the thicket.
Today, we only have to know one name, and that name is Jesus. Because of Jesus, God the Father has provided for us, and is for us, everything we could ever need. You can rest in knowing, today and every day, that the Name of the Lord is a strong fortress that you can run into whenever you need.
Below is a list of Old Testament Names of God. Who is God to you?
- El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
- El Elyon (The Most High God)
- Adonai (Lord, Master)
- Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
- Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
- Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
- Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
- Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
- Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
- Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
- El Olam (The Everlasting God)
- Elohim (God)
- Qanna (Jealous)
- Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
- Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
- Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)