Luther's Hymn in the Shadow of Plague

In the autumn of 1527, the bubonic plague swept through Wittenberg. Families fled the city in terror. The university relocated. Yet Martin Luther refused to leave, staying behind to minister to the sick and dying. His own infant son fell gravely ill. Friends begged him to go. The world around him was, quite literally, falling apart.

It was in this season of death and upheaval that Luther turned to Psalm 46 and composed what would become the most famous hymn of the Reformation: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. He did not write it from a place of comfort but from the very center of the storm. Bodies were carried through the streets. His household became a makeshift hospital. And still he wrote: "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing."

Luther understood what the psalmist knew — that when the earth gives way and the mountains crumble into the sea, when nations rage and kingdoms totter, the Almighty remains an unshakable refuge. God does not promise the absence of catastrophe. He promises His presence within it. "God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."

The same God who steadied Luther's hand to write amid plague steadies your heart today. He makes wars cease. He breaks the bow. He is still God — and He is still enough.