One of the absurdities we have to live with now is the command and control by some that says that we shouldn’t sing in church, in fact there should no longer be public singing at all because of the virus. As I said when you live with absurdity at some point you either accept it or rebel against it. I have actually had people tell me that they will not come back to church as long as we sing.
it never occurred to me to recite the powerful text of Luther’s hymn “Lord Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word”. It is a hymn of prayer addressed to each person of the Trinity, asking God’s protection as we sojourn through a world that hates Christ and His Church. The hymn text was written by Martin Luther and was originally published in 1543 with the title “A children’s hymn to be sung against the two arch-enemies of Christ and His holy Church, the Pope and the Turk.” It is likely that Luther wrote the text in 1541 for a special service in Wittenberg against the threatening Turkish army. In our politically correct day we don’t sing hymns against the pope anymore, and some people seem to be willing to stop the church from singing at all. I mentioned before that I have had people say but they will not come back to church as long as we sing. What a shame. Here is the second verse of Luther’s original.
Lord Jesus Christ, Your power make known, For You are Lord of lords alone; Defend Your holy Church that we May sing Your praise eternally.
