Proverbs 18:10
Martin Niemoller was a former U-boat captain, Lutheran pastor, and one of the founders of the Confessional Church, which opposed the nazification of German Protestant churches. In 1934, Adolf Hitler summoned German church leaders to his Berlin office to bludgeon them into submission. According to Hitler, they were to confine themselves to church matters and leave the running of the country to him. Niemoller protested and reminded Hitler that he had a God-given right and duty to speak truth to the church as a whole. Hitler listened in silence, but his later actions spoke loud and clear. Within hours, his Gestapo raided Niemoller’s rectory and within a few days a bomb exploded in his church. It wasn’t long before this brave Lutheran was arrested and imprisoned. On the day of his trial on February 7, 1938, fear pointed its cold bony finger into Niemoller’s face causing him to shudder with anxiety. As he walked through underground tunnels to the courthouse he worried about his family, his flock, and his future! Unnerved, he climbed the steps to the courthouse with a thumping heart and troubled mind, but then he heard a whisper. At first he didn’t know where it came from, but he soon realized that the attending officer was breathing into his ear the words of Proverbs 18:10: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” Niemoller’s fears melted away as the truth of that verse strengthened him for the trial of that day, and the trial of his years in Nazi concentration camps.
People in the ancient world took shelter from their enemies and sometimes the elements in fortified positions or strong towers. These were safe places and spaces that afforded people a greater sense of security. Taking that image, the wise writer of Proverbs 18:10 encourages God’s people to take shelter from life’s threatening storms in what we know to be true about God, as revealed in His name or names. In Hebrew culture a name was not a mere label, but a kind of index to the character of the person. Names reveal something about people and that is especially true of God. Therefore, when studying God’s names we see who He is and what He does, and we take shelter and find peace in those truths about God. And when we run in our minds to those truths our fears are chased away.
Here are some truths about God revealed in His names that will help chase our fears away. God is Jehovah-Ra’ah, our shepherd (Psalm 23:1). God is Jehovah-Jireh our provider (Gen 22:14). God is Jehovah-Shalom, our peace (Judges 6:24). God is Jehovah-Rapha, our healer (Ex. 15:26). God is Jehovah-Tsidkenu, our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). God is Jehovah-Nissi, our ensign of victory (Ex. 17:15). And God is Jehovah-Shamah, our ever-present companion (Ezek. 48:35). What great truths indeed! And as we factor them into our calculations about life, our present seems more secure and our future less daunting. As Martin Niemoller entered that Nazi courtroom he also entered the strong tower of God’s promised presence and powerful protection.
Wherever life takes us, we must always take that extra step and believe what we know to be true about God as revealed in His names.