Machseh & Metzudah — Refuge & Fortress
מַחְסֶה וּמְצוּדָה
Refuge, fortress, stronghold, high tower — the Psalms' vocabulary of running to God and being unreachable there.
Luther's 'A Mighty Fortress' is Psalm 46 in German; Jewish tradition sings Psalm 91 at burials and bedtimes. The stacked synonyms of Psalm 18 — rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn, stronghold — are a fugitive's inventory of everywhere he hid, renamed as one God.
First occurrence
2Sam 22:2 — David's song (the brickwork layout): rock, fortress, deliverer
Key passages
Ps 46:1 — 'God is our refuge and strength'
Ps 91:2 — 'My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust'
Ps 18:2 — The sevenfold pile-up of shelter words
Prov 18:10 — 'The name of YHVH is a strong tower'
In the Greek Scriptures
καταφυγή