A Mighty Fortress is Our God Hymn Story with Lyrics - Martin Luther - Story Behind the Hymn

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Martin Luther was a fiery reformer, and that is how he is most remembered, but he was also a talented musician and hymn writer. He often set his lyrics to popular secular tunes of the day, but was criticized because of their association with drinking establishments. His passion for music was undeterred, although some in that day did not share his enthusiasm. This hymn, taken from Psalm 46, is Luther's best-known and most loved.
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LYRICS
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 power 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 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:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
Alternate Translation:
A mighty fortress is our God, a trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need that hath us now overtaken.
The old evil foe now means deadly woe; deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight; on Earth is not his equal.
With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the Valiant One, whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, who is this? Jesus Christ it is.
Of Sabbath Lord, and there's none other God;
He holds the field forever.
Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us.
We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us.
This world's prince may still scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none, he's judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.
The Word they still shall let remain nor any thanks have for it;
He's by our side upon the plain with His good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife,
Let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won;
The Kingdom ours remaineth.

[@theoderich1168]

2:46 I just compared this version of the first verse with the original and I must say it is excellent; it is a literal translation and still sounds poetic and beautiful to my German ears....

[@garethifan1034]

This is a 'Hymn'..not a 'song'..and what a great Hymn it is.

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Yes indeed, a beautiful hymn.

[@mr.safecharliedefensivedri9741]

This song is ageless.thank you, for sharing this with me.

[@Worship101HymnStories]

You are very welcome! It is our privilege to offer these for everyone to see.

[@tutorialoutlook249]

Man of God and a Blessed Hymn

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Thank you for your feedback. More hymn stories coming soon.

[@mr.safecharliedefensivedri9741]

Thank you

[@mr.safecharliedefensivedri9741]

I Love this song.

[@Worship101HymnStories]

A definite classic, loved by many. Our God is a mighty fortress!

[@ashleypenn7845]

Perfect for our homeschool unit. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Thank you for sharing the classic hymns with your home school group. The younger generation needs to understand the depth and meaning that these hymns contain.

[@ashleypenn7845]

@@Worship101HymnStories We're actually going to be doing a hymn study next year. :)

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Great! We actually have a course called Hymnody 101 that does exactly that. It starts with Old Testament songs and goes all the way to contemporary music of today. You can check it out at www.grace101.org. A church or home school group sponsorship would give you full access to the course and all other Grace Ministries materials. The In Search of the Heroes movies are also very popular with home school groups. @@ashleypenn7845

[@stewartdouglas3723]

I was just looking g for a video of the song. I was pleasantly surprised to see the face of my former pastor and a wonderful history of the song. Maybe youtube's algorithm knows me well....or maybe...just maybe...God is still God...even on youtube.

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Amen! Yes, God is still God even on KZbin. It can certainly be a junk pile but once in a while a diamond can be found.

[@swedishlutheran]

Luther wrote this hymn out of anger. His friend Leonard Kaiser was burned at the stake for following Luther by the Catholic diocese.

[@Worship101HymnStories]

Thank you for your input.

[@ronaldmessina4229]

In my humble and sinful opinion, martin luther was NOT a very good man, because he rebelled against the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, and having started his service in the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, did NOT want to meet with the pope, nor any Catholic priest, but started his own brand of religion/church , and caused a great amount of trouble in all of EUROPE , married a run-away nun, who he help to escape from the church, broke his vows of chastity and obedience to the Church, and the nun did the same thing , so I do NOT believe that neither of them were very good Catholics 😢

[@garethifan1034]

@@ronaldmessina4229 Nonsense. We thank God for Martin Luther and his bravery in standing against the false Roman Catholic cult.