A hymn and its story
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God is Martin Luther's hymn, written around 1529 as a paraphrase of Psalm 46, with both the words and the tune by Luther himself. It confesses that God is a refuge no enemy can overthrow, and that Christ, the Man of God's own choosing, fights for His people. The English most often sung is Frederick H. Hedge's translation of 1853.
Words and music by Martin Luther, about 1529 · translated by Frederick H. Hedge, 1853
Luther took Psalm 46, a psalm about a city that will not be moved, and turned it into a marching song for people who had every reason to be afraid.
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God at a glance
- Words
- Martin Luther, about 1529
- English translation
- Frederick H. Hedge, 1853
- Based on
- Psalm 46
- Tune
- EIN FESTE BURG, by Martin Luther
Who wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, and why?
Martin Luther wrote this hymn around 1529, in years when siding with the Reformation could cost a person their living or their life. He wrote it as a paraphrase of Psalm 46, which begins by calling God a refuge and a very present help in trouble, and he wrote both the words and the tune.
It spread quickly because it was meant to be sung by ordinary people rather than performed at them. That was Luther's conviction about congregational singing: a truth a person sings with their own mouth settles into them differently from a truth they only hear. The English version most often sung today is Frederick Hedge's translation of 1853.
The words of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.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.
The Scripture behind A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
What does A Mighty Fortress Is Our God mean?
The hymn is honest about danger. It does not say the flood is not rising; it says there is a fortress. That is why it has been sung by people under real threat for five centuries, and why it still reaches somebody lying awake with a fear they cannot argue away. The comfort it offers is not that the trouble is small, but that God is a refuge and a very present help in it.
Sing it, and mean it
A hymn is a prayer you can carry in your chest. The people who wrote these did not write from a stage; they wrote from shipwreck and sickbeds, from ordinary faithful mornings, and handed us words for the days we cannot find our own. You do not have to sing well. You only have to lift it, and mean it, to the One it is about.
Meet the One these hymns are aboutWorship in The Living BreadWhen you are afraidAsk someone to prayJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Who wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God?
- Martin Luther wrote both the words and the tune, around 1529. The English text most often sung is Frederick H. Hedge's translation of 1853.
- What Scripture is A Mighty Fortress based on?
- Psalm 46, which opens, 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' The hymn is Luther's paraphrase of that psalm.
- Why is A Mighty Fortress called the battle hymn of the Reformation?
- Because it was written and sung in years when following the Reformation carried real danger, and it gave frightened congregations words for courage. Luther believed ordinary people should sing theology, not only hear it.
Sources
Dates and attributions are checked against these sources. The reflections are our own words.
