Tower of salvation

"He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore." – 2 Samuel 22.51

David often referred to the Lord as his tower, or high tower, or, like here, his tower of salvation. Living here as long as we have when I see those words the first thing I think about are the high towers scattered around the island.

Here these towers are usually about 50 metres highs. They are made of stone and have an opening up on the side a few metres. They have stood for about a thousand years and still stand today. A couple of them are still climbable by stairs on the inside.

I love them. I love the history and the architecture and the stories behind them. Most of the high towers were located in religious centres like monastic villages. Some of these places were used for scribes to copy manuscripts of the word of God. There were also a lot of golden vessels used in the churches. When foreign invaders such as the Norsemen landed here some of their first targets were these religious centres. Eventually the monks and residents butts these towers as a place to secure the riches and the manuscripts. The provided a pale of safety for the monks and their riches and their papers.

That's the image that comes to my mind when I read about this ‘tower of salvation.’ The Lord was David’s secure place and He is our secure place when we find safety and protection and deliverance in the face of our enemy.

So when our troubles seem unbearable and the battle seems lost let us run to our high towers and find our protection in our Lord. He’ll provide the salvation nothing else can provide.