A Mighty Fortress

1. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
   Our helper 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.
2. 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, His Name, from age to age the same,
   And He must win the battle.
3. And though 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.
4. That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
   The Spirit and the gifts are ours through 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.

I love old hymns– I love music in general, but there is something powerful and “grounding” about old hymns and ancient praises that stick with us through thick and thin.

Martin Luther, author of “A Mighty Fortress”

This ancient (nearly 500 years old!) hymn has been attacked often.  I saw an article recently that said it should be kicked out of hymnals and never sung.  The author’s reasons:  It had “old” words and it was gloomy and aggressive in its tone.   True, it has words like “abideth”, “grim”, “kindred”, “battle”, and “doom”.  (Although the song has been “rewritten”– not only translated into English, but “modernized” to take out the “old-fashined words”–it’s not like you have to put up with the archaic words you don’t like or understand.) And it isn’t an upbeat anthem about dancing and lifting our hands in celebration.  It’s not about daisies and unicorns and good vibes.  It was written in a time when worship wasn’t about luxurious auditoriums and customized T-shirts with your church’s logo.  Worship wasn’t cool–it was deadly serious.

Good hymns are not just there to help us celebrate the good times; they are there to remind us to keep going during the struggles and bad times that are sure to come in life.  It doesn’t help that many times the hymn gets shortened..if you only read or sing the first and last verses, it can be confusing.

In its entirety, however, the hymn reminds us of a very real spiritual battle being waged for our souls, and the victory that is already ours through Jesus (“that little word!”).  Jesus is not just a “crutch” for weak sinners.  He is a mighty fortress for battle-scarred and wounded warriors.  He is a refuge in the middle of a field of war between good and evil, and the garrison for the army of Goodness.  He is the battlefield hospital, providing healing; he is the supply station, offering armor and weapons of war.

The outcome of war is already decided– the victory is sure–but the battles are still raging.  Yesterday, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I– the “war to end all wars.”  History has left us with few illusions about lasting peace in this world.  That doesn’t mean that we should not work to pursue peace in our time.  But it does mean that our real peace comes from seeking shelter within the “never failing” bulwark that is Christ Jesus, and drawing power from Him to go back out and fight the battle before us.