Sunday's Hymn: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

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 for ever.

—Martin Luther

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• My Times Are in Thy Hand at The Happy Wonderer

Selected Reading, January 2, 2021

 

A few reading and listening suggestions for this first weekend of the new year. 

God

Three Ways God’s Fatherhood Is Different Than Ours
A good reminder that God’s fatherhood is unique. His fatherhood is not patterned after human fatherhood. It is “determined by God’s fatherhood alone and not by any external standard of fatherhood … . Unlike the fatherhood of creatures, the fatherhood of God is not dependent, not composite, not changing, not limited, and not temporal. It is self-existent, simple, immutable, infinite, and eternal. God’s radiant fatherhood is “above” all other forms of fatherhood … .”

The God Who Hears Our Lament
This is a post from earlier this year, but I didn’t read it until this week. It makes an important point: We need an impassible God: “It is only because God is blessed in himself—the sovereign fullness of life, peace, and joy—regardless of all the vicissitudes and pains of history, that he can communicate a blessedness that overcomes and restores that history.”

Words

Hallelujah and Amen
Barry Cooper of Simply Put podcast explains these two transliterations.

Sunday's Hymn: All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord

All praise to thee, Eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are thine alone.

Once did the skies before thee bow;
A Virgin’s arms contain thee now:
Angels who did in thee rejoice
Now listen for thine infant voice.

A little Child, thou art our Guest,
That weary ones in thee may rest;
Forlorn and lowly is thy birth,
That we may rise to heav’n from earth.

Thou comest in the darksome night
To make us children of the light,
To make us, in the realms divine,
Like thine own angels round thee shine.

All this for us thy love hath done;
By this to thee our love is won:
For this we tune our cheerful lays,
And shout our thanks in ceaseless praise.

—Martin Luther

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Knowing You, Jesus at The Happy Wonderer