Jehovah-Misqabbi

Lord my High Tower

Psalm 18:2 (H4869 )

Translated in the KJV as:

defence 7, refuge 5, high tower 3, high fort 1, Misgab 1

Psalms 18:1-6
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spoke unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. (2) The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (3) I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. (4) The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. (5) The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. (6) In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.


Here is the last mentioned of David's metaphors for God in Psalm 18:2. . . his high tower. I do not begin to understand how one Hebrew word is at times translated 'defense', others 'refuge' and still others translated as 'high tower'. It is the same word. What clue did the translator take that 'high tower' was meant here and not refuge? I have no idea. It is beyond me.

I like the usage in this passage:

Isaiah 33:14-17
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (15) He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; (16) He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. (17) Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

In this passage the 'high' portion of the meaning is an added word explicitly written down. What is a 'high' tower? What is a 'high'. . .place of defense? It is not only a secure place. It is not merely a place of safety, but it is also a place of great vision. Why does the top penthouse command the greatest rent? Why are the top offices in a modern office building the most expensive? The vision is greatest from there. The view unequalled, the line of sight unimpeded from the high tower. It is a safe place, but also from there you can behold the land that is very far off. . .

God's strength and wisdom are surely unequalled, but it is His vision that is impossible for us to begin to comprehend. God's perspective of view is from such a lofty height. Everything is visible to Him. . . nothing hidden. When the men of Babel wanted to be like God they endeavored to build their own 'high tower'. From it they wanted great vision like God.

Genesis 11:1-6
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. (2) And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. (3) And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (4) And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (5) And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. (6) And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

God recognized this threat and reacted to it. He actively frustrated man's plan. From this we must infer that great vision without God, while it can be no actual threat to God, must in some manner be a threat to our well being and not good for us. God confused our languages to confound and slow our cooperation and progress. Look around you at the horrors that science without God has created. In Biblical times, one man swinging a heavy sword or throwing a spear could on his own kill one man.

Today we read about EMP weapons where one finger pushing one button could detonate a missile at an altitude of 300 miles that would destroy virtually every electronic device in the entire continental United States. Every computer, every electric motor, every car, every truck, every motorcycle, every airplane, every television, every radio, every power generation station. . . ALL would be gone in the blink of an eye. . . We would immediately be put back 100 years as far as our technology. . . You roll that nightmare scenario around in your mind. The numbers would probably be in the hundreds of millions that would die from exposure, starvation, and civil insurrection. Yes the achievements of man without God are terrible. . . Without God our progress, our vision is a terrible danger to ourselves. We are today circumventing the consequences of the tower of Babel. . . consequences intended for our own good. . .

With God providing the high place, with God providing the vision. . . indeed God shared his vision with the men of the Bible. God told Abraham and Moses of His plans for His people. Jesus spent three years explaining His vision to the disciples. He raised them up. He was a high tower of teaching and vision for them. We need great vision, but it must be vision through God, with God. . .

I surely need a place of safety.
I. . . all of us need God's vision for our lives, for our families, for our ministries. . .
I need Jehovah-Misqabbi, the Lord my High Tower. . .

Thank you God,

Dave

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