Name of God - Migdal Oz: Strong Tower

Daily Verse: “for You have been a refuge for me, a strong tower in the face of the enemy.”

☆ Psalm 61:3 HCSB

Let's Talk About It: As we go through the different names God is known by and called, keep in mind that according to Jewish custom and law, writing God's name is forbidden. Erasing or discarding a paper with His name on it is forbidden as well. This goes along with not saying His name in vain. This is taken very seriously among Jews.

So, we often see the characteristic traits of God being used as His name in literature, and this is also why you may have heard (or seen written) many different names of God. The Hebrew and Greek names we see written in literature describe what the individual sees/knows God as, or what God is known to have done in that person’s life or someone else’s.

This psalm, like many others in the Book of Psalms, is a prayer of David’s. As we breakdown and study out verse 3, we see that David is speaking to God saying (and I’m paraphrasing), in the past God has been a safe place that he could flee to…a refuge. David goes on to say, “a strong tower” facing his enemy during his stay at the “refuge”. This is a simple way of saying “under God’s holy protection.”

Studying it out, David is saying when the enemy comes near, that enemy is not facing him, but God, who is like a strong tower. When we see “strong tower” mentioned, David uses the word Migdal Oz. (When speaking to, writing about, and referring to God, reverence is used by all who believed in Him during those days, especially the Jews. Without saying His true name, David says Migdal Oz which in Hebrew means strong tower.

This brings me back to a time when I was just a little kid in my neighborhood walking to my friend’s house. Back then, there were many dogs that weren’t on leashes. Well one happened to see me and started running towards me in what appeared to be an attack. I instantly ran away and the dog continued to chase. Then I got to a certain point, looked back, and saw that the dog had stopped so I stopped.

Looking at it, the dog was moving aggressively and barking viciously, as if it wanted to get me, however it wasn’t moving forward…just side to side as if there was a wall standing in front of it, preventing the dog from moving forward to harm me. This was God being a strong tower in the face of my enemy. Because of this and many other different situations in my life, I know God as Migdal Oz…Strong Tower. What situations have you been in that God stood between you and harm’s way? How has He been your strong tower just as He had been for David?