Category: Lenten Psalms

The text: Psalm 46 – NRSV

Psalm 46 is perhaps most famous for inspiring Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. The hymn is strongly associated with the Protestant Reformation, and according to some observers, Luther took great comfort in the words of this psalm during the dark early days of the Reformation. The psalm is a powerful statement, proclaiming God’s unassailable ability to protect God’s city and God’s people against any assault. Tellingly, the psalm ends with God putting an end to war itself, calling us in the midst of such tumult to “be still, and know that I am God”.

What does it mean for God to be your fortress, unassailable and impregnable? Perhaps it reminds me of Jesus’ real estate advice about where to build your house: either on solid rock or on shifting sands. Perhaps it recalls Paul’s proclamation in the end of Romans 8 that nothing in the universe can separate us from the love of God through Jesus Christ. What does it mean to you?

There are so many recordings of Luther’s hymn, but here’s one as a start:

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Today, while at the gym of all places, the idea came to me to practice a new kind of Lenten discipline. To be honest, I have not often practiced the idea of “giving something up” for Lent. But inspired by recent preaching, I’m proposing instead to do something for Lent: lift up one Psalm each day until Easter, and use it as a focus for prayer. This is an easy thing: the Psalms are prayers, prayers of all kinds. I’ll add a post here for each Psalm with a few brief thoughts along with a link to the NRSV text of the psalm on Bible Gateway. That site has dozens of other English (and Spanish) versions, so you can likely find your favorite version there.

By my reckoning, there are 42 days until Easter, so we should be able to cover about one-third of the psalter. During each week we’ll cover a variety of Psalms, but on Sundays, we’ll honor an ancient tradition of the Church that proclaims each Sunday in Lent to be a “little Easter”. On these days we’ll lift up a song of praise.

So welcome on this journey through Lent! I hope you find it a blessing.

To see all posts in this series, click on “Lenten Psalms” below.