Psalm 46:1-2 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
I love to sing the old church hymns that most churches have begun to shy away from. Growing up in a Lutheran Church these hymns were a part of my diet of worship. As a child and teenager, I sang in the choir along with the adults. Back then there was no children’s choir. It was exciting to be with the adults and to sing to God with them. We kids always felt a part of the Church because of our place in the choir. I suppose that’s why I am comfortable in churches with a large membership of senior citizens and why I still love to sing the old church hymns.
Psalm 46 is the basis for one old church hymn that is among my favorites, A Mighty Fortress was written by Martin Luther, the instigator of the Protestant Reformation in the early part of the 16th century. It was Luther, an Augustinian monk of the Roman Catholic Church, who posted on the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg, Germany his 95 complaints against the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. This single act of protest led to the split of the Catholic Church and the eventual rise of the protestant churches of today.
Martin Luther’s act of faith has proven to be God’s will for the fulfillment of verse 10 of this same Psalm: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Today we can together know that “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
