Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Psalm 124:1-3, 6-8 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us . . . Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
GOD IS ON OUR SIDE
October 31 is a date to remember the work of the LORD in the Lutheran Reformation. On this day in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. His simple call for a debate on the abuse of indulgences became the spark that ignited the Reformation.
Even secular historians admit that the Reformation brought monumental change, not just in Germany, but throughout the world. To that time there was, for all practical purposes, only one Christian religion -- Roman Catholicism. But by the grace of God, Luther was led to see the abuses of God's Word within the church, and like Wyclif and Hus before him, attacked these errors, standing firmly on the truth of God's Word alone.
Luther realized that on his own he would have lost this battle, but Luther also knew that he was not alone. God was on his side. In 1521, after his firm stand at the Diet of Worms, the emperor declared Luther an outlaw. Friends kidnapped and hid him at the Wartburg for almost a year. In 1523, after returning to Wittenberg, though still condemned throughout the empire, Luther wrote the hymn: "If God Had Not Been on Our Side."
As God was with Luther as he stood on the truth of God's Word, we can be confident that He is also with us in the continuing battle against sin, Satan, and false-teaching today. May we also draw comfort and hope from the words of Psalm 124.
If God had not been on our side And had not come to aid us,
The foes with all their power and pride Would surely have dismayed us;
For we, His flock, would have to fear The threat of men both far and near
Who rise in might against us.
(TLH 267:1)
