The story behind the hymn
Martin Luther wrote Ein' feste Burg around 1529, with the empire against him, the plague visiting Wittenberg, and friends dying for the faith he had unleashed. It is Psalm 46 — God is our refuge and strength — hammered into German and set to Luther's own sturdy tune. He sang it daily against despair: come, let us sing the forty-sixth psalm, he would say to Melanchthon, and let the devil do his worst.
The hymn stares its enemy in the face: the prince of darkness grim is granted his ancient cunning and armour — on earth is not his equal — and then dismissed in a single line: one little word shall fell him. Luther's confidence was never in the church's strength but in the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing: Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same.
The last stanza was written by a man who had learned to hold everything loosely: let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still. It became the anthem of the Reformation, sung by martyrs at the stake and congregations under siege — the hymn Heine called the Marseillaise of the Reformation. Frederic Hedge's 1853 translation is the one most English congregations sing.
The lyrics
A mighty fortress is our God,A bulwark never failing;Our helper He amid the floodOf mortal ills prevailing:For still our ancient foeDoth seek to work us woe;His craft and power are great,And, armed with cruel hate,On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,Our striving would be losing;Were not the right Man on our side,The Man of God's own choosing:Dost ask who that may be?Christ Jesus, it is He;Lord Sabaoth His name,From age to age the same,And He must win the battle.
That word above all earthly powers,No thanks to them, abideth;The Spirit and the gifts are oursThrough Him who with us sideth:Let goods and kindred go,This mortal life also;The body they may kill:God's truth abideth still,His kingdom is for ever.
Public domain. Free to sing, copy, print, and share.
The Scripture behind it
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
The psalm the hymn was forged from.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
The LORD of hosts — Lord Sabaoth — is with us: Luther's second stanza in the psalm's own words.