Friday, February 12, 2010

A Song for the Martyrs

Below is one stanza from Martin Luther's song "Flung to the Heedless Winds." Luther started the reformation, which split the protestant church from the Catholic church in the 16th-17th centuries. Many people died taking a stand for salvation through faith apart from works, the place of Scripture as the church's authority, etc. It's amazing to read as you place yourself in the shoes of someone who said goodbye to a faithful saint.

Stanza #9
Flung to the heedless winds
Or on the waters cast,
The martyrs' ashes watched,
Shall gathered be at last.
And from that scattered dust,
Around us and abroad,
Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witnesses for God.

The Father hath received
Their latest living breath,
And vain is Satan's boast
Of vict'ry in their death.
Still, still, tho' dead, they speak,
And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim
To many a wak'ning land
The one availing Name.

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