Psalm 46:1-5

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;” vss. 1-2

Though he was sympathetic to the demands of the peasants in 1525, Martin Luther was supportive when the armies of the nobles put down the peasant’s revolt. Appalled by the subsequent slaughter of over 200,000 people, he responded in 1527 by writing A Mighty Fortress is Our God, a hymn based on Psalm 46. It reflected his sense that the wars of the nations are futile, a senseless quest for domination and glory. He believed that God was the true refuge and strength of humanity, a source of help that was continually available.

Sadly, the Peasant’s War was followed by many more European wars in which millions of people have died in one armed struggle for dominance after another. Even today Ukrainians and Russians are continuing the reprise of that same sad story. Every day brings reports of new attacks and more deaths, and always, the innocent suffer the most.

We wonder if we will ever have enough of war, or if we are bound to continue the killing with ever more deadly and effective weapons. It’s really hard to find much hope that things will ever change. And so we keep going back to the psalmist, the one in whom Luther found his comfort. He bids us to lay aside our fear, and put our trust in the one who is our mighty fortress.

Thought for the Day: What is the alternative to war in our world?