“Luther and his companions, with all their bold readiness for danger and death in the cause of truth, had times when their feelings were akin to those of a divine singer, who said, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” But in such hours, the unflinching Reformer would cheeringly say to his friend Melanchthon, “Come Philip, let us sing the Forty-Sixth Psalm; and they could sing it in Luther’s own characteristic version:
A sure stronghold our God is He,
A timely shield and weapon;
Our help He’ll be, and set us free
From every ill can happen.
And were the world with devils filled,
All eager to devour us,
Our souls to fear shall little yield,
They cannot overpower us.”
S.W. Christopher in “Hymn Writers and Their Hymns.” Excerpt from Charles H. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David, a Commentary on the Psalms, pg. 218.
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