A mountain fastness is our God
From Oremus Hymnal
A mountain fastness is our God,
on which our souls are planted:
and though the fierce foe rage abroad,
our hearts are nothing daunted.
What though he beset,
with weapon and net,
arrayed in death-strife?
In God are help and life:
he is our sword and armor.
By our own might we naught can do ;
to trust it were sure losing ;
for us must fight the right and true,
the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask for his name?
Christ Jesus we claim;
the Lord God of hosts;
the only God: vain boasts
of others fall before him.
What though the troops of Satan filled
the world with hostile forces?
E'en then our fears should all be stilled:
a single word can quell them.
In God are our resources.
The world and its King
no terrors can bring:
their threats are no worth:
their doom is now gone forth:
a single word can quell them.
God's word through all shall have free sway,
and ask no man's permission:
the Spirit and his gifts convey
strength to defy perdition.
The body to kill,
the wicked have power:
wife, children, at will,
yet lasts it but an hour!
the kingdom's ours for ever!
To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
for ever be outpouring
one chorus from the heavenly host
and saints on earth adoring!
That chorus resound
and spread from shore to shore,
to earth's utmost bound,
like stormy ocean's roar,
through endless ages rolling.
Contents |
Historical Notes
One of several translations of Ein feste Burg
Author
Martin Luther (1483-1548), 1529;
trans. William Robinson Whittingham (1805-1879)
