Psalm 121.

Whether abroad, amidst the crowd, Or else within my door,

He is my pillar and my cloud,

Now and forevermore.

HENRY VAUGHAN.

145

A Mighty Fortress is our God.

MIGHTY fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Doth 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.

A Mighty Fortress is our God.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear; for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us,

The Prince of Darkness grim,

We tremble not for him :

His rage we can endure,

For, lo! his doom is sure:

One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers
No thanks to them abideth ;

The spirit and the gifts are ours,
Through 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 forever.

MARTIN LUTHER.

(Tr. F. H. HEDGE.)

147

When Israel, of the Lord beloved.

HEN Israel, of the Lord beloved,

Out of the land of bondage came,
Her fathers' God before her moved,

An awful guide, in smoke and flame.
By day, along the astonished lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands
Returned the fiery column's glow.

There rose the choral hymn of praise,
And trump and timbrel answered keen,
And Zion's daughters poured their lays,
With priest's and warrior's voice between.
No portents now our foes amaze,

Forsaken Israel wanders lone;

Our fathers would not know Thy ways,

And Thou hast left them to their own.