Reformation Day (Observed)
500th Anniversary of
Luther’s Translation of the Psalter
October 27, 2024
Text:
Psalm 46
The Year of Our Lord Fifteen Hundred
and Twenty-four, 500 years ago, the Lutheran Reformation of the Holy Christian
Church was in full swing. And among any
number of momentous events, this was the year Dr. Luther published his
translation of the Psalter. Never
underestimate the importance of the Psalter, the Psalms, in Lutheran
theology. Luther loved the Psalms, and
even prior to his breakthrough on the doctrine of justification by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone, Luther maintained a steady diet of the
Psalms. He memorized the Psalms, sang
them daily as a child in school and as a friar in the monastery. Luther was immersed in the Psalms, as we
should be, the hymnal and prayerbook of the Bible, so foundational to the
biblical Lutheran theology of which we are heirs and stewards.
Psalm 46 is of particular note to
us, because it was this Psalm Dr. Luther poetically paraphrased in “the battle
hymn of the Reformation,” “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (LSB 656/657). What a tremendous Psalm for our meditation in
these times, especially as we anticipate another contentious election and all
the accompanying civil unrest and strife such an election entails; in the life
of our congregation, as we ride the roller coaster of capital campaigns,
potential properties, high hopes, anxieties, and disappointments, and hopefully
soon, the right property, at the right price, at the right time; in our
families and individual lives, with all our joys and sorrows, triumphs and
challenges, medical issues, family relations… whatever it may be. “God is our refuge and strength,” we
sing and confess with the Sons of Korah, “a very present help in
trouble. Therefore we will not fear
though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the
sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling”
(vv. 1-3; ESV). Even when the bottom
falls out from under us, and all is crisis and chaos, Christ’s Church
confidently sings: We will not fear.
We will not fear… though the wrong people are in power and threaten to
damage and destroy all that we hold dear.
Or, the right people are in power, and turn out not to be so right,
after all. We will not fear… though there
doesn’t seem to be enough money for the buildings that aren’t available anyway,
and we can’t seem to agree on what we need, or what we could afford, even if
they were. We will not fear… though the
marriage is in trouble, or the cancer is back, or the kids are making a grave
mistake, and we know how it’s going to turn out for them, and all we can do is
close our eyes and pray. We will not
fear.
Of course, we do fear, and
that is why we need to sing this Psalm.
Because in this Psalm, the Holy Spirit teaches us why, come what may, we
need never fear: The LORD is
with us. He dwells with
us. He makes His habitation with
us. And that is to say, Christ Jesus, Immanuel
(God with us!), God in our human flesh.
“Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus
Christ it is,” as we sing in Dr. Luther’s hymnic version (LSB 656:2). He fights our battles (“Of Sabaoth
Lord.” That means, “Lord of Hosts,” or
“Lord of Armies”). He defeats our
enemies, sin, death, the devil and his demonic hoard. He delivers us from their tyranny, and
brings us into His own Kingdom. He does
it by His innocent suffering and death on the cross for us, and His
victorious and lifegiving resurrection from the dead for us. “And there’s none other God; He holds the
field forever.” So He is our Mighty
Fortress, and that is why we need never fear.
Now ponder this sublime image
painted in the center of our Psalm. Within
this protective Fortress (the Fortress that is God Himself), God establishes
His Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the Holy Christian Church. And there is a River, there (Ps. 46:4). Now, there is no great river in earthly
Jerusalem (there are springs, and there are wadis, but no river), so the Psalm
must be singing of something else. And
what is that? What is the River
whose streams make glad the city of God?
The River is the Holy Spirit, whose Source is in the
Father, through the heart of the Son, filling the hearts of all
believers in Christ (John 7:38). He
flows forth in the preaching of the Gospel, and in the Means of Grace, in Baptism,
Absolution, the Supper. That is to say, He
is flowing forth now, water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, giving
drink to God’s chosen people (Is. 43:20), to you, O City of God, and through
you, to all to whom you confess Jesus Christ and the life and salvation that
come from Him alone.
This River is pictured throughout
the Scriptures. We can think here of the
River flowing out of Eden in the beginning, splitting into four, to water the
face of the earth (Gen. 2:10). We can
think of the River in Ezekiel (47), flowing from the Temple of God, now
ankle-deep, now knee-deep, now waist-deep, now unpassable… on each bank, trees,
whose fruit is for food, and whose leaves are for healing. We think of Jesus, and the River of
blood and water flowing from His pierced side (John 19:34). And we think of the fulfillment of all of
this in Revelation (22), the River of the Water of Life, bright as
Crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Again, on either side of the River, the Tree
of Life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, each in its season, and its leaves for
the healing of the nations. This is what
is going on, right here, right now, in this preaching.
It makes you glad, doesn’t
it? It is the cause of your
rejoicing, and the driving away of your fear. Because you believe it, and receive
it. You are enlivened by it…
by Him… this Spirit of God. It
causes the kingdoms of this world to totter and fall. That is why the powers that be are so afraid
of God’s Word, His Kingdom, His Church.
They don’t want His Lordship.
They don’t want to be under Him.
The nations rage. The earth
melts. But you… as we sing in
Psalm 1, blessed are you, because your delight is in the Law
of the LORD, His Torah, His Word, upon which you meditate day and
night. And so you are like a tree
planted by streams of water, by the River, yielding fruit in season
(good works), whose leaf does not wither (health, wholeness, life!). You are here, attending to the preaching,
because your delight is in this very thing.
Now, as a result… simply come and
behold the works of the LORD (Ps. 46:8).
He brings desolations on the earth, mighty acts of judgment. He makes wars cease (v. 9). He alone brings peace, and so, we should pray
to Him for peace, in our own nation, and among the nations of the earth (we’re
all worried about the fallout of this election, and we’re all worried about
World War III, and some would say we’re already in it… this should drive us,
not to worry, but to prayer!). He breaks
our weapons and burns our chariots, echoes of swords beaten into plowshares and
spears into pruning hooks (Is. 2:4). And
so, at the end of the day, what should we do?
“Be still, and know that I am God,” says your Lord (Ps.
46:10). Still yourself. Let God be God. You just rest yourself in the protection of
your Mighty Fortress. And exalt His
Name. He will be exalted,
anyhow. The Day is coming when every
knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11). For
the kingdoms of this world, it will be an agonizing experience of
Judgment. But for holy believers among
the nations of the earth, for you, who already bow and confess,
it will be your Day of vindication.
Beloved, “The LORD of hosts is
with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Ps. 46:11). With us. Immanuel. This Psalm is about Jesus. Well… the secret is, all of them are. And for that reason, five hundred years ago, Pastor
Luther translated the Psalter into German for his flock. We sing with him (in our case, mostly in
English), and with all of our fathers and mothers in the faith, and with our
brothers and sisters throughout the world, in many tongues. And so, the River flows, and we will not
fear. Remember that, whatever happens
November 5th. Remember that,
whatever happens at voters this afternoon.
Remember that, whatever you are going through in your own life and in
your household. “God is our refuge
and strength,” a very present Help.
Present not simply in your mind or in your heart. Present here, now, in the audible
Voice of His Word, and on the Altar, in His true body and blood. Be still and know that. And greet Him here and now, singing Psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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