A Mighty Fortress is Our God
This great hymn is known as the battle hymn of the reformation! Hear the story behind it's composition by the famous German monk and reformer Martin Luther, and see why his lyrics are still sung with gusto around the world today.
Welcome to another Friday Classic Hymn. I've done 65 or 66 of these, and I'm thinking of putting the performances onto an album or a few albums to release on Spotify and Apple Music. Would you be interested in that? Please let me know below if that's a good idea.
I've recorded all these hymns, and as I've explained already, I'm working through hymns that I don't know and that I've never sung before—such as today's great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Do you know this one? I've never sung this one before in my life. I had to learn it, and what a great song it is.
When I was researching it and listening to a few different people sing it, I found a few videos online of conferences and whole big churches singing this with an organ or with an orchestra and a choir. Wow, what a rousing song it is! I can just imagine being in a setting like that, singing it with brothers and sisters in Christ, belting it out.
What memories do you have of this song? I'm sure you've got a memory if you're watching. If you've clicked on it, you've probably known this song. Where do you remember singing it? What has it meant to you? Please share that sort of thing in the comments below. I'd love to hear your stories.
As always, if I can ask you to subscribe to the channel, please do—that really helps these videos get out there. Maybe like it as well. Click the little thumbs up and share it around. That would be wonderful.
Let's talk about this classic hymn and the story behind it.
The Story Behind "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"
This is one of the oldest ones that I've done because this comes from Martin Luther himself. Martin Luther is the giant of the Reformation, born in Germany in 1483. He eventually became a monk and lived in perpetual terror of God, never knowing if he was right with God or not, until he discovered as he read the Bible that being right with God is not a matter of works but a matter of faith. Works flow out of faith, not the other way around.
He was gloriously saved as he realised that getting right with God is just by His grace—believing in His grace. Luther rebelled against the Catholic Church, and famously on Reformation Day, October 31st, 1517, he nailed a list of 95 theses that he'd written against the doctrine and practice of the Roman Catholic Church to the door of the church. He was subsequently tried by the Church, excommunicated, and so the Reformation began. The Protestant Church began.
Even today you've got Catholic churches and Protestant churches. Protestant churches are those who align with Luther's understanding of the Bible.
Leaving the Church and doing his own thing was difficult, and he came under a lot of persecution in the years that followed. By 1529, Luther and the reformers were going through a particularly tough time of persecution by the Church, the state, and everybody.
Luther loved to write music. He was a big fan of music and often spoke about how great music was in terms of its spiritual qualities. In fact, look at this quote of his: "Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of man. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity, and other devices."
For him, he would use music to uplift himself. In fact, he has another quote that proves it: "The devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God."
For Luther, he would use music to fight the devil off whenever he felt attacked. Whenever he was going through dark times, music was one of his main ways to fight the battle. I love this because I do the same. I'm certain you do the same. I hope you do. If you don't, start doing it—start using Christian music to fight your battles, to remind you of great truths. Luther did this.
In this season of going through some difficulties with him and his fellow reformers, he one day wrote a new song based on Psalm 46, which is a famous psalm that talks about how God is our present help in times of difficulties. Even if all sorts of things go wrong and calamities come, He is still with us. It's a great psalm.
He decided to put it to music and wrote the song. There are a lot of stories associated with how the reformers used the song as their battle cry. They would sing it every day, some sources say. Another source says that Luther and his friend Phillip would often sing the song together. "Let's sing the 46th Psalm," Luther would say to him, and they would sing it to bolster their spirits and to encourage one another.
It seems as though Luther even wrote this melody—the famous tune—because no one knows quite where it came from. But by the time Johann Sebastian Bach was composing, it was already a known tune, so they think Luther wrote the tune himself.
The English translation which we usually sing was translated by a man named Frederick Henry Hedge, an American pastor in Massachusetts in the 1800s. Because he was educated in Germany, he could take the original words and rework them into English.
Luther has such a big impact today. Of course you know of the Lutheran Church, but all Protestant churches look to Luther as the one who rediscovered the biblical teaching on being justified by grace through faith—not by works, not by penance, not by confession, but by grace and grace alone.
He also translated the Bible into German, wanting the common people to be able to read it, not just the clergy. He died in 1546, but oh boy, Luther is one of the giants of the Church. He wrote a few other hymns as well, but this is the one that everybody knows of his.
Let's take a look at the words that he wrote, as translated by Mr Hedge.
What Do the Lyrics of "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" Mean?
Verse 1
"A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing."
I didn't know what on earth that meant, I'll be honest. I didn't know how to pronounce the word "bulwark," but I heard it being sung in those versions I watched. As I went onto Google and looked up the word, the Merriam-Webster dictionary says that a bulwark is a solid wall-like structure raised for defence—like a rampart or like an embankment for safety.
I love that picture of God—like a huge wall that you can hide behind, that protects you. That's a wonderful picture of God, isn't it? A mighty fortress, a strong protective wall.
"Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing."
In this world you face floods of ills and difficulties because you're mortal—it's just part of being a human being. But He is our helper through all of these things.
"For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe."
He's saying there is an enemy. Satan is the one who seeks to destroy us. Jesus spoke about him as the one who seeks to kill and steal and destroy. He seeks to work woes into our lives—difficulties.
"His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal."
He's saying we do have an enemy who's powerful, and we need to be aware of that. Many people don't even believe this anymore. Many people think that's all fairy tales, but Jesus's words are clear that there is an enemy, and he is full of hate and wants to bring us down.
Maybe we need to sing songs more that remind us of this, instead of just the songs we sing today. Instead of just praise songs or love songs to God, we need to sing battle songs, don't we?
Verse 2
"Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing."
If we had to try to fight this great enemy in our own strength, we would just lose. No matter how hard we strive, we're not strong enough.
"Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing."
Unless we have Christ Jesus on our side—the Man who God chose as the Messiah. Now that doesn't mean God looked around and found a man and made him the Messiah. No, Jesus was begotten of God, with the Father from the very beginning, of course. God sent Him in the form of a person. God chose to form Jesus into this Man.
If we don't have Him on our side, if He is not the One in whom our faith is placed, then the enemy will just have his way with us. But because we are people of Christ and our faith is in Him, we have new power over the enemy.
"Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same."
That's an old phrase that means Jehovah Sabaoth—it means God of the hosts, the Lord of hosts, the God of the angel armies, to use a modern way of putting it. Jesus is the One who commands the angel armies, the hosts of heaven.
With the angel armies at His disposal as our leader, we've got great power. We don't need to fear the devil. We don't need to lose the battle because we've got a more powerful One in the Lord of hosts.
"And He must win the battle."
He's the same, He's powerful, He will win the battle because He's already won the war on the cross and as He came out of the empty tomb and ascended.
This is reminding us that we have power because we are Christians. We have God's power within us as we place our faith in Him. Can you imagine Luther and the early reformers going through their battles, facing severe persecution, but singing the song and saying, "We're going to be okay because God is with us and He's on our side"?
Verse 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."
Yes, the world has got these devils and Satan's hosts. Remember, Paul talks about the principalities and powers of darkness that we fight. But even though we are fighting them, we don't need to fear because God has given us the power to triumph. His truth triumphs through us. We still have to fight, but His truth wins through us.
"The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure."
Yes, he's the Prince of Darkness, but we don't tremble before him. We can endure whatever he throws at us because of Jesus within us, His Spirit within us, and His armour around us. Yes, Satan's doom is sure.
"One little word shall fell him."
One little word—just the smallest word of faith. Remember, Jesus spoke about just the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains. One little word of faith sends the devil packing. I love it.
Verse 4
"That Word above all earthly pow'rs, no thanks to them, abideth."
Don't think this is the same word he referred to in verse three. I don't think so, because one little word doesn't match with here. He's talking about Jesus as the Word. John 1 says, "In the beginning the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Jesus is referred to as the Word here.
He's above all earthly powers. He still is strong and still keeps going and still abides even in spite of the earthly powers. They've got nothing on Jesus. He keeps reigning in the place that He's in above all.
"The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth."
Jesus has sent His Spirit. Even though He's ascended, we have the Spirit within us. The gifts of the Spirit are manifest in us, and He sides with us. We don't need to be afraid.
"Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still."
He's saying let them take away all of our goods, all of our stuff. Let them take away everything that's part of our lives. Let them even kill us. They can take away our mortal lives and kill our bodies, but God's truth abides in us still.
Let them come. Let them do what they want to us. Our hope is not in our goods, our possessions, our things, even our flesh, our lives. Our hope is in God alone.
"His kingdom is forever!"
It ends on that note. His kingdom is forever. We live on in His kingdom even if our bodies here on earth are killed.
Conclusion
What a song of triumph! As I've learnt it this week, I've thought what a great victory song, declaring the victory that we have in Christ. I can just picture our church singing this one. I think I'm going to bring it in to worship sometime soon.
What words stood out for you? Was there something here that really gave you hope today? I love these types of hymns, these types of songs that are victorious.
Before I finish, please head over to my website. I'd love for you to get my daily devotions, which are in audio form—it's me doing short little teachings. You can also read them on my website. I've got some free books there that I've written—devotional books that I'd love for you to have a look at—and all the music that I've written and all the music that I feature on my channel. You can find it all there on my website. Please check that out.
Thank you to those who support on Patreon and on PayPal—it really keeps me going with this work online. I'm deeply grateful.
Thank you, Martin Luther, for a great song. Thank you, Lord, for inspiring him.
References
Price, Carl F. A Year of Hymn Stories; A Primer Of Hymnology. 1914. New York, Cincinnati, Methodist Book concern.
Emurian, Ernest K. Living Stories of Famous Hymns. 1955. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Adams, Lucy Neely. 52 Hymn Story Devotions. 2000. Nashville: Abingdon.
Kenneth W. Osbeck. 101 Hymn Stories. 1985. Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids.
John McLelland. The Ambassador Book of Great Hymn Stories. 1994. Ambassador Productions Ltd: Belfast.
