A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD
THE HYMN STORY
A song leader will occasionally have the congregation sing ‘one verse of’ such and such a hymn. That is a very bad idea when it comes to ‘A Mighty Fortress’, because in this case it leaves us praising the devil. Don’t believe that? Read the words.
The beginning of the hymn acknowledges that the forces of evil we face can seem to be overwhelming and triumphant. The hymn was born in one of the most difficult periods of Martin Luther’s life.
The Lutheran commentator, Dr. Albert B. Collver, describes the dark waters Luther was going through at this point. “In August 1527, a man who followed Luther’s teaching was martyred. In the fall of 1527, a plague broke out in Wittenberg. In December 1527, Luther wrote to a colleague: ‘We are all in good health except for Luther himself, who is physically well, but outwardly the whole world and inwardly the devil and all his angels are making him suffer.’” A few days later, in January 1528, Luther wrote that he was undergoing a period of temptation that was the worst he had experienced in his life.
Dr. Collver points out that the German word used here for temptation refers to “anything that causes anxiety, doubt, fear, suffering, or terror in a person’s life. For instance, in December 1527, Luther’s daughter, Elizabeth, was born sickly. In May 1528, she died. The six months of wrestling with the Lord in prayer to save his sick daughter was a period of temptation (Anfechtung) for Luther. He was mentally and spiritually fatigued. He was under the cross of suffering. Yet, he took comfort in the Psalms and trusted in the promises of Jesus.”
While ‘A Mighty Fortress’ came to be thought of as the battle hymn of the Reformation, Luther actually categorized it as a ‘hymn of comfort’. When he wrote it he was drawing solace from its Scriptural basis in Psalm 46. He wasn’t thinking of it so much as a triumphal proclamation as a description of wrapping up for shelter in the power of an Almighty God. Of the thirty-seven hymns that he wrote, this one has uniquely come down to us through the ages as almost universally embraced by the Body of Christ and even, interestingly, by the Roman Church.
HYMN LYRICS
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;
Our shelter He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth is His name, From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim — We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly pow’rs — No thanks to them — abideth:
The Spirit and the gifts are ours Thro’ Him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
SOURCES
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god
https://lutheranreformation.org/history/a-mighty-fortress/
https://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god/
https://churchchoirmusic.com/the-story-behind-the-song-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god-11629923.html
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A song leader will occasionally have the congregation sing ‘one verse of’ such and such a hymn. That is a very bad idea when it comes to ‘A Mighty Fortress’, because in this case it leaves us praising the devil. Don’t believe that? Read the words.
The beginning of the hymn acknowledges that the forces of evil we face can seem to be overwhelming and triumphant. The hymn was born in one of the most difficult periods of Martin Luther’s life.
The Lutheran commentator, Dr. Albert B. Collver, describes the dark waters Luther was going through at this point. “In August 1527, a man who followed Luther’s teaching was martyred. In the fall of 1527, a plague broke out in Wittenberg. In December 1527, Luther wrote to a colleague: ‘We are all in good health except for Luther himself, who is physically well, but outwardly the whole world and inwardly the devil and all his angels are making him suffer.’” A few days later, in January 1528, Luther wrote that he was undergoing a period of temptation that was the worst he had experienced in his life.
Dr. Collver points out that the German word used here for temptation refers to “anything that causes anxiety, doubt, fear, suffering, or terror in a person’s life. For instance, in December 1527, Luther’s daughter, Elizabeth, was born sickly. In May 1528, she died. The six months of wrestling with the Lord in prayer to save his sick daughter was a period of temptation (Anfechtung) for Luther. He was mentally and spiritually fatigued. He was under the cross of suffering. Yet, he took comfort in the Psalms and trusted in the promises of Jesus.”
While ‘A Mighty Fortress’ came to be thought of as the battle hymn of the Reformation, Luther actually categorized it as a ‘hymn of comfort’. When he wrote it he was drawing solace from its Scriptural basis in Psalm 46. He wasn’t thinking of it so much as a triumphal proclamation as a description of wrapping up for shelter in the power of an Almighty God. Of the thirty-seven hymns that he wrote, this one has uniquely come down to us through the ages as almost universally embraced by the Body of Christ and even, interestingly, by the Roman Church.
HYMN LYRICS
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;
Our shelter He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth is His name, From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim — We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly pow’rs — No thanks to them — abideth:
The Spirit and the gifts are ours Thro’ Him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
SOURCES
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god
https://lutheranreformation.org/history/a-mighty-fortress/
https://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god/
https://churchchoirmusic.com/the-story-behind-the-song-a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god-11629923.html
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