Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle: 365 Sermons
Our stronghold
‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ Proverbs 18:10
Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 20:1–9
It is useless for me to attempt to describe the various ways in which your trials come; but I am sure they that know Jehovah’s name will put their trust in him. Perhaps your trial has been want, and then you have said, ‘His name is Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide;’ or else you have been banished from friends, but you have said, ‘His name is Jehovah-shammah, the Lord is there;’ or else you have had a disturbance in your family; there has been war within, and war without, but you have run into your strong tower, for you have said, ‘His name is Jehovah-shalom, the Lord send peace;’ or else the world has slandered you, and you yourself have been conscious of sin, but you have said, ‘His name is Jehovah-tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness,’ and so you have gone there, and been safe; or else many have been your enemies; then his name has been ‘Jehovah-nissi, the Lord my banner;’ and so he has been a strong tower to you. Defy, then brethren, in God’s strength, tribulations of every sort and size. Say with the poet,
‘There is a safe and secret place | The least and feeblest here may hide |
Beneath the wings divine | Uninjured and unawed. |
Reserved for all the heirs of grace; | While thousands fall on every side, |
That refuge now is mine. | I rest secure in God.’ |
But, beloved, besides the trials of this life, we have the sins of the flesh, and what a tribulation these are; but the name of our God is our strong tower then. At certain seasons we are more than ordinarily conscious of our guilt; and I would give little for your piety, if you do not sometimes creep into a corner with the poor publican and say, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
For meditation: The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is a strong tower: the unrighteous run into it, and are saved (Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12; 10:43; 1 John 5:13). Have you ‘fled for refuge’ (Hebrews 6:18)? Are you ‘in Christ’?
Sermon no. 491
26 October (1862)