"A safe stronghold our God is still"
  by Martin Luther

We are not very inclined to think of Martin Luther as a hymn-writer, and yet, the great Reformer was both able and prolific in this gift and some 37 hymns have been attributed to him including "Away in a manger," the little carol that will be on so many children's lips over the coming days. That the fiery hammer of the papacy should have written such a carol must surely teach us that many of those mighty men of the Reformation were men of warm and tender hearts, and that it was, in fact, their greatness of heart that could never permit them to allow God's unchanging truth to be maligned or its message trampled upon. Luther is every bit as much at home in instructing the young that the Lord gave to his charge as he is combating the heresies and abuses of his day, for, to him, both are essential features of the gospel of God's free unchanging grace to sinners. Not only would he "teach all nations," but he would "earnestly contend for the faith," as well.

In this final hymn of our short series, we see Martin Luther clad in the armour of God's everlasting gospel and striving valiantly against that old enemy of men's souls – the devil.

Perhaps no one more than Martin Luther recognised the power and greatness of the Evil one in the conflict for men's souls. He is "the ancient prince of hell," he says, and on the whole of this earth, among the created beings of God there is not another creature like this "prince of darkness." Luther was in no doubt as to the "weapons" that this "angel of light" and this "roaring lion" (for he is both in one) could employ and was employing at that particular time in the history of Christ's Church. It was "Strong mail of craft and power." "However," we can hear the great Reformer proclaim, "In all these things we are more than conquerors." And we are "more than conquerors" on account of the impregnable fortress in which the Lord has placed our souls."

This is the only hope of the child of God saved by grace, and it is no wonder that Luther's hymn became "The Battle-song of the Reformation." "The Reformers' Marseillaise," it has been called by one, and "God Almighty's Grenadier March" by another. And no wonder, we say again, for here was the very warp and woof of that great religious revolution and what it stood for and what it meant. There was a God in heaven and on the earth – a Sovereign God who justified the ungodly and then held them in the hollow of His hand to the fulfilment of His perfect will and purpose. "Why don't you build more fortresses?" the Elector Frederick was asked; "A mighty fortress is our God," was his reply. And once let a man be assured of that, and not only will men fail to affright him, but the very prince of hell himself will make heavy weather of it in trying to turn him away from the work that he believes this God has put into his hand. "Come," Luther would often say to his friends, "let us defy the devil and sing a hymn." And whether or not we would fully agree with the church of Rome's assessment that "Luther has done us more harm with his hymns than with his sermons," stillwithall, we can appreciate what drove them to such a remark. Once let the people of God begin to sing out of full hearts to the God of their salvation, and the powers of hell shall scatter before them, for the song of praise is a thing unknown in the regions of the lost.

Trust in God! That's what Luther is proclaiming in this first verse of his hymn, and in the second, he couples this trust in God with distrust in ourselves.

And in the next verse, it's the absolute all-sufficiency of that overcoming power of our great Redeemer that is the burden of our author's heart.

It has been said that the first line of this verse is a paraphrase of Luther's triumphant utterance as he and his fellow-reformers entered into the town of Worms, out of which it was feared, they would never return alive. "Though there were as many devils at Worms as tiles on the roof," said Luther, "nevertheless I will go." – "And were this world all devils o'er." And into that town they went, we are told, singing this song until "the old Cathedral trembled at these new notes, and the ravens were startled in their nests in the towers." And why did they venture forth "none daring to make them afraid?" Luther tells us in the last two lines of this verse. Let the devil look upon them "as grim as e'er he will;" "His doom is writ," says Luther, and the Word of God "shall quickly slay him."

God's Word – that's the concern of the final verse; and, Luther is reminding us in the words of the apostle Paul, "The word of God is not bound," – not even by the devil and his host.

"God's everlasting Word will stand forever," Luther is saying; "let me live by that and labour for that. And though men may rob me of my 'goods' and my 'honour' and my very children and wife, still withall, my eternal lot remains secure in my 'Safe Stronghold' – 'The city of God remaineth.'"

This Page Title – Great Hymns and their Writers – "A safe stronghold our God is still" by Martin Luther The Wicket Gate Magazine "A Continuing Witness". Internet Edition number 75 – placed on line November 2008 Magazine web address – www.wicketgate.co.uk