The phrase “a strong tower” is only used three times in Scripture. The other two references help to explain it.

In Judges 9:46–49, Abimelech, Gideon’s son, attacked the tower of Shechem and it fell. It was only a tower. But in verses 50–53, there was a “strong tower” in a city called Thebez. Abimelech tried to destroy it too, but a woman dropped a piece of millstone on his head, and he was destroyed instead! The strong tower stood. It could not be destroyed.

The other reference is in Psalm 61:3. “You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.” In verse 2, the Lord is our high rock above all the floods of trouble; in verse 3, He is a refuge we can flee to, and our strong tower from every enemy, trial, and difficulty!

To return to our verse, in Proverbs 18:10 we have the “name of the Lord is a strong tower.” This phrase, “the name of the Lord,” is used many times in the Old Testament. The first time is with Enosh (Gen. 4:26). His name means frail or mortal, and it was in his day that men began to call upon the name of the Lord in prayer, in the sense of their weakness. His name also represents all that our God is, as when He proclaimed the name of the Lord to Moses (Ex. 34:5–7). He is unchanging in our changing circumstances!

The last word of Proverbs 18:10 is “safe.” In the original Hebrew, it actually means to be set on high, and it reminds us of eagle parents who build their nest on high on a cliff or a very high tree, to keep their chicks safe from every predator. So the Lord has set us on high. Like Job, He has set a hedge about His people, and only what He allows can touch them (Job 1:10). May we find refuge in Him as our strong tower!