The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. —Proverbs 18:10
Yesterday, as my family and I were coming home from the grocery store, we noticed water shooting up into the sky a few blocks away from the house. As we got closer we saw that there had been an accident. A sedan had run into a fire hydrant and flipped over and was laying upside down on its roof. Our jaws dropped as we noticed an empty car seat laying on its side near the backseat window. Frantically we began to look around to see where the passengers were and to make sure everyone was OK. A moment later we noticed a crowd gathered around a woman who was sitting on the grass shaking and holding a little baby in her arms. Three other young children snuggled up next to her crying as they struggled to catch their breath and recover from what they had just gone through.
This is the world that we live in. It’s a broken and unpredictable world. It’s a dangerous world where accidents come without warning and few things actually work out the way that we planned. The questions that we find ourselves asking is, “How can we find peace of mind in a world so full of uncertainty?” “Where are we supposed to go to find safety and security in a world so rife with danger?”
In Proverbs 18:10-11, the author lays out two different options for us. Some people seek security in money. In verse 11 he writes, “A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.”
Many people in our culture believe that money will give them the security and peace of mind they crave. They have made wealth the high wall they hope will keep them safe in the midst of the dangers and unpredictability of life.
Unfortunately, they're wrong. As unpredictable as life may be, there is one thing that is certain. And as helpful as money can be, it is powerless to protect us from that one thing.
The psalmist makes this clear in Psalm 49:7-9 when he writes, “Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.”
As high a wall as wealth may build, it will never be high enough to protect us from death. Truly, the ransom of our life is costly, and no amount of money will ever suffice. What can we do? Where can we find safety in a world where death will inevitably come to call on each one of us?
Solomon gives us the answer to this question in Proverbs 18:10 where he writes, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” When the walls of wealth come tumbling down, when sickness threatens our health and death comes to claim our life, there is one place where we can run. There is a tower able to withstand all of the uncertainties of life and keep us safe from the destruction of death itself.
You see, as costly as the ransom for a life might be, there was one who was willing to pay it. Peter tells us about this One in 1 Peter 1:18-19, when he writes, “Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
The blood of Jesus has done what no amount of silver or gold could ever do. Paul boldly declares, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). Don’t put your hope in the uncertainty of riches, instead know for certain that “The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
For Reflection
When things go wrong in life, where do you find yourself looking for safety and security?
How do these things prove weak and incapable of protecting you from your greatest enemies like sin, death, and hell?
Why is Jesus able to protect you from your greatest enemies? How can running to Him give you peace of mind in the midst of a world full of uncertainty?