The Word In
Song!
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord."
Colossians 3: 16
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is the
famous hymn written by the Protestant
reformer Martin
Luther.
The first line of hymn “A mighty fortress is our
God,
a bulwark never failing” is likely based on Scriptures
Psalm 46:7, 11 and Psalm 91:1-2, verses that speak
of God as a fortress.
Luther’s hymn is an example of many throughout Church
history that teach biblical truth through song. The book of
Psalms was a hymnbook for Israel, practice of composing
spiritual songs did not end with the Old
Testament.
New Testament scholars find
remnants of early Christian
hymns embedded in passages Ephesians 5:14; Philippians
2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-20; and 1 Timothy 3:16. Just as we
memorize popular songs today by hearing them played over
and over, we also memorize biblical truths by the repeated
singing of hymns and spiritual songs.
Buy a hymnal to use in your devotions to
familiarize yourself with the riches of God’s
Word as recorded in
hymns of the Church.
"Thy Word is like a glorious choir,
and loud its anthems ring."
Edwin
Hodder