Words & Music by Martin Luther
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
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
And tho' this world, with demons filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear, for God hat willed
His truth to triumph through us
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God's truth abideth still
His kingdom is forever !!!
Hey all !!!
This Sunday's worship service is titled "SOUL WARS" along with the Soul Wars theme that we are doing right now (so this is the "title message" if you will). I'm really excited about the song lineup, especially this song "A MIGHTY FORTRESS" which was written by Martin Luther in 1529. I made a recording of it for our worship ministry to listen to to help them get an idea of how this song sounds, but my bass is a little shaky so please give me some GRACE :-) It's just not possible to sing that low. I tried.
Anyways ... I learned some really cool new stuff when reading through and researching the lyrics of this song. I always thought that the word "BULWARK" was really weird and honestly I didn't know what it meant (It kinda reminded me of the word Narwhal, like from "Elf" so every time I sang this song I thought of a Nordic Whale) ... BUT ... I looked it up and here's the definition:
So ... A bulwark is a WALL !!! Kind of like a castle wall / wall of protection. I especially like definition #2 that talks about "a protection against external danger". It's amazing to think and reflect upon how God protects us from SO MUCH external danger and really guards us from so much whether it is sin or the consequences it brings - I love thinking about God as our protector !!! To me, verse 1 really outlines the spiritual battle - that God is our protector and Satan is our enemy. Verse 2 acknowledges that only through Christ can we conquer ! And Verse 3 details the convictions we have as Christians, despite the demons and the forces of evil. This is especially convicting as I am studying out the works of early Christians right now such as Clement, Mark Felix, and Justin Martyr and this was totally their conviction - They were willing to give up ALL material goods, friends & family, even their life ... for Christ ! Hope this song encourages you !
PS - I also posted the REMIX below :)
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