The Confrontation

The following is adapted from the book, "A Simple Way to Pray" by Dr. Archie Parrish, which I thought appropriate to share in this time that some think our world is falling apart.

"One of the most significant events in what would become the Protestant struggle took place in Worms, Germany in the year 1521.....

On April 17, 1521, the marshal of the empire escorted Martin Luther, wearing his monk's robes, from his lodgings to the assembly diet. The archbishop of Treves asked him two questions: Would he acknowledge those books that were laid upon a bench before him to be his productions, and would he recant the opinions contained in them? .... after hearing the titles read, he answered, "Yes". However, to the second question, at the suggestion of his counselor, he requested that he be allowed until the next day to consider his answer.

That night in his room Luther prayed:

‘The bell has been already cast, judgment has been pronounced. Ah God, ah God, O You, my God. Stand by me; do this, You must do it, You alone! The matter is not mine, it is Yours. O God, do You not hear? My God, art Thou dead? No, You cannot die; You only hide Yourself. Stand by me. Lord, where do You tarry? Where art You, O my God? Come, come! I am ready, even to forsake my life for this, submissive as a lamb, for righteous is this cause which is Yours. And should my body perish for this cause, should it fall to the ground, year, be broken to fragments, yet Your Word and Your Spirit are enough. And all this can happen only to the body; the soul is Yours and belongs to You and will remain forever with You.'

In the quiet of his room Luther might have thought about John Huss (1372-1415), who had been burned at the stake for seeking reforms similar to those that he now sought. The words of his prayer show that Luther knew that what he said to the diet the next day might soon result in a similar sentence for him. Luther's heart turned to God in Psalm 46, which was written at a time when the psalmist saw the world falling apart. This at this time of Luther's great crisis this psalm became a major source of encouragement. Psalm 46 reads:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

After meditating on this psalm, Luther wrote:

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He, amid the flood
O'er mortal ills prevailing......."

The rest, as they say, is history.


A Simple Way To Pray (pg. 21) - Published by Serve International, Inc., Marietta, GA. rev. 2005.