Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
Strong fortified walls from fifteen to twenty-five feet thick and twenty feet high surrounded ancient cities. Built into these walls were towers at each corner and at other places in the wall where an enemy might attack. Each tower had its own entrance, a staircase to the top, and a stash of weapons. Towers were the place to run to when the enemy was attacking. These towers were called migdal-oz in Hebrew. The same word is also translated as “stronghold.”
Do you ever wonder why the person who cuts corners gets the promotion? Why one with no scruples lands the deal? Why do the promiscuous ones get the engagement ring? Why do the wicked ones prosper? The psalmist wondered the same thing.
Ancient armies had two types of shields. A large shield was carried in one hand for full body protection. An army could huddle together and raise these shields over their heads as a defensive barrier when fiery arrows were falling from the sky. The shield carried in the other hand was smaller and used for hand-to-hand combat or personal safety when rocks were hurled from the top of city walls. For the believer, God is our shield.
Fortresses were not built in the middle of the plains. Rather, they were built in high places, on top of or into the side of a mountain. So, with that background, check out today’s passage.
Sooner or later, everyone needs a safe place, a protected place—cover from a blasting storm. When the sleet of illness pelts your life, when the downpour of grief drenches your heart, when the winds of anxiety threaten to knock you down, you need a secret place, a hiding place to escape from those things threatening to knock the props from your life. You need the shelter of the Most High!
The Israelites believed that Yahweh was their king-–in Hebrew, Melek. He was the ultimate authority over Israel and every nation on earth. He reigned in power and majesty. They believed the temple in Jerusalem was the earthly symbol of God’s heavenly throne. God was their Melek; they were his servants.