The History of Great Hymns

The New Testament twice encourages believers to ‘sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.’ In doing so, we make a melody of worship to the Lord in our very hearts. Psalms are commemorative songs in praise to God for mercies received. Hymns are songs of praise to God and spiritual songs are moments of spiritual reflection and thanksgiving.

One of the most powerful and famous hymns of all is Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The power of this beloved hymn is in many ways the lyrical conclusion to Luther’s words when he shrewdly noted, ‘The Devil hates music because he cannot stand gaiety.’ On another occasion he noted, ‘Satan can smirk but he cannot laugh; he can sneer but he cannot sing.’

As Luther greatly believed in the power of song, the great reformer spent much of his time compiling a hymnbook for congregational singing. One biographer of Luther commented, ‘Luther translated the Bible into German so God could speak directly to the people; and provided the hymnal so that the people could answer God in their songs.’

Luther is credited with writing 37 hymns, with A Mighty Fortress Is Our God by far the most famous of them all. Luther wrote the hymn in 1529, at a time when Luther and his followers were experiencing great opposition in their work to free the Gospel from the darkness of the Papacy. This Papal opposition was heightened by the determined work of Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V saw it as a personal mission to stop the Reformation and Luther’s work for Christ.

During those days of struggle and persecution, Luther often turned to Psalm 46 for encouragement. The opening verse stood out to him, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’ 

The certainty of the assurance given by God in Psalm 46, stirred Luther to write the convicted and confident opening line Ein feste burg ist unser Gott – A sure stronghold our God is He. This line and the subsequent lines of the hymn were translated to English by Frederick Hedge in 1852, to the more familiar A mighty fortress is our God.

Luther’s hymn was an immediate hit with the people of Germany. It’s courage inducing words quickly became the song of many martyrs, as they said goodbye to this foreign land and stepped foot into their heavenly home. One can only imagine the incredible witness for Christ such a scene would’ve caused! The grisly sight of a man/woman being tied to a wooden stake and set aflame for their refusal to bow to Catholic superstition, would’ve been truly terrifying and gruesome. Yet this horror would be overwhelmed by the song of that martyr, singing in praise that they were about to be home with their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

The dramatic and instantly recognisable melody has been attributed by some scholars to the great classical composer J.S Bach. The problem with this being that Bach was not born until 1685, meaning that Luther’s hymn had been popularly sung for nearly 200 years before Bach’s compositional skills had matured. As a result, many other scholars maintain that the melody was crafted by Luther himself. Given the conviction and expertise of Luther’s work in leading the Reformation, along with his zeal for hymns and spiritual songs, it would not be a surprise if he did indeed pen the both the words and melody.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God is a wonderful hymn in that it encourages believers in Christ to never fixate in fear of the forces of darkness. His passionate song implores all who sing its emboldening words to not consider the temporary afflictions of mortal life. Instead, we are to fix our attention on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. For by His never-failing faithfulness and strength, we gifted a fortress to rest within for both these mortal days, and for all eternity. Amen.