Martin Luther wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God as a reflection on Psalm 46. In this psalm, the psalmist feels terror and trials breathing down his neck. In the midst of threats all around, he hears his Lord say, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Can you imagine what this psalm meant to Luther amidst his trials, terrors, and threats all around? This is why the hymn A Mighty Fortress still speaks to us in mighty ways in the present day. Particularly, I think it is a great meditation for parents of teenagers in today’s world. With this thought in mind, I’d like to draw out some lessons and hopes for parents who struggle to lead their children during these dark days.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
What is a fortress? It is a stronghold of defense against your enemies. It is a structure that makes you feel totally safe from the threats outside. Dear Parent, God is your Fortress. He is a bulwark (“a defensive wall”) that never crumbles or cracks. There are no weaknesses in your God. No matter what happens in your child’s life God will never fail you or your child. Though all else seems lost and though the enemy (insert whatever seems most threatening to your child’s salvation and well being) appears like a force so strong that it could bring down the Fortress, we must have faith that our God has stood the test of time.
Dear Parent, He is your Helper. It does not say that God will keep your life free from floods and mortal ills but rather this hymn assumes those things will come at you and your family. The fact is that amidst all of this God is your Helper. We learn to know the “helpfulness” of God amidst our floods of suffering. What is a flood? Picture what Hurricane Katrina did. The waters broke through the levees in New Orleans and spilled over into the whole of the city. Floods know no bounds. They overwhelm anything in its path. The floods of pornography, vaping, drinking, self-righteousness, and worldliness destroy everything in its path until it comes to the foot of our Fortress. God is your Helper. God is your Fortress. Even when it feels like you are drowning, God is the One who will carry you through.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and pow'r are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.
Make no mistake about it, the same Serpent in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 is the same Serpent slithering around seeking to strike at our youth. Whether through cell phone, Netflix show, peer pressure, or even simply the busyness of life, Satan lurks and prowls around seeking to take someone away from the knowledge of God. Dear Parent, do not try to parent your child without remembering that you have an Enemy. The Dark Lord holds sinners in his dominion. Yes, it is God who is Sovereign over him but God Himself has given sinners over to his dominion. This is a grip that you cannot release. He is too powerful for you. Stop trying to fight his craft, power, and cruel hate with spiritual squirt guns. Imagine trying to stop a bank robber who has a loaded AR-15 assault rifle while you only have a dollar store squirt gun. Good luck. But this is what we can look like when we seek to do battle without the Holy Spirit and His weapons.
Dear Parent, his craft and power are indeed great. How great? Greater than you! Nevertheless, he is no match for the Omnipotent One. The Dark Lord is armed with cruel hate but we worship the God of Love. It is only His Love that can set your child free from whatever bondage they are in. Listen, if you try to parent in a way where you neglect the reality of Satan then you will fail. On earth is not his equal. Luther knew this and you should know it too. He is smarter than you. He is stronger than you. He is quicker than you. You are like a toddler trying to arm wrestle the strongest man in the world. He yawns when you try to defeat him in your own strength. But, he trembles when you pray. His knees are wobbling when He sees you call upon the Fortress. He flees when you resist him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your children need your prayers more than anything.
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.
Satan has his army. He delegates his demons to do his bidding. Even though your eye does not see, there is a war going on. Spiritual warfare is around every corner. When you relax in war, you get shot. Dear Parent, lurking around every spiritual corner is a war. We must prepare our children for it. A war takes place every time they open social media. A war takes place every time others gossip in the hallway. A war takes place every time their friends pressure them to do something ungodly. The Dark Lord and his army will seek to undo you and your child. This is no time to play Christianity. This is time for the real thing.
Should that make us fear? It should if we didn’t have help. But here is the truth: We do have help! We have the one who has tied Satan onto a leash like a owner leashes a dog. Satan and his army can only do what our God allows them to do. Even then, everything that happens to the believer is for their eternal good! This should not make us relax though. We must reject complacency at all times. Your job, dear parent, is never over. There is no off-season. We must stay in this fight and fight we must but we can have hope. God has willed that He will triumph through us. Think about this hope. You might have a wayward child that seems carried away in sin like a tumbleweed in a tornado. Behold your God! Nothing is outside His Sovereign Power. Regardless of the result, He will triumph through us. That should cause us to pray until our last breath. Dear Parent, your child will be attacked but if they are God’s child then God’s truth will triumph through them. Do not neglect the study of God. Do not neglect the teaching of your children the ways of God. This is no time for half-hearted theology. This is no time for trendy topics. Our children need to see how big God is and how big His gospel is. His truth will triumph. The time to study theology is now. The time to show our children how theology applies to life is now!
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.
Remember, the Prince of Darkness is no joke. Still, we tremble not for him. Like the wolf chasing the three pigs, eventually the wolf runs out of breath and gets tired. He couldn’t endure. We can resist the devil by the Holy Spirit’s power. The Dark Lord will not endure. God, on the other hand, never tires and never changes. God does not have to put forth energy in being God. He simply is God all the time and never tires of being God. He exercises His power and yet He is never fatigued. He is always applying His wisdom and yet His mind never grows weary. The God who promised that He would crush the head of the Serpent in Genesis 3 is still our God today. The Dark Lord may blow and blow and blow upon your house but he will eventually tire out. Like the three pigs, the question is: What is your house made of? Are you building your home on the foundation of Christ? Are you seeking above all else to show your children Christ? Are you striving to know God and overflow with the knowledge of God onto your children?
There will spiritual assaults upon you and your children. We must teach and train them to endure. We must show them how to fight when anxiety overwhelms them in the middle of the night. We must show them how to fight against lust when someone sends them something inappropriate. We must show them how to fight when the world seeks to change the way they think about sexual ethics. The Prince of Darkness is fighting against them and we must teach our children how to fight back. Are we more concerned with raising up our children to be worldly successful? They must learn to treasure up God’s Word in order to use it.
That word above all earthly pow'rs, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth.
Dear Parent, the Word of God never fails. It is above all earthly authorities. When the world sought to destroy the Bible the underground printing press was formed. When the world sought to kill preachers, more were sent out into the world. All men are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of our God stands forever. Dear Parent, trust this Word! This Word is what your child needs. They need the Word more than they need a good resume. They need the Word more than they need popularity. They need the Word more than they need a good education and a good job. Do you believe this? It is the Word that reaches the heart by the Spirit’s hand. The Spirit transforms us by using the Word in our lives. This is the spiritual power and the heavenly dynamite that will topple our idols and destroy sinful desires.
Not only do you have the Word at your disposal but you also have the Spirit. God Almighty dwells with you! The Spirit and the gifts are yours in Christ. He is on your side! Parenting in a postmodern culture might look impossible. It should. It is impossible. You need the Spirit but do not fear because you have the Spirit if you have Christ. It is He that will guide you. It is He who is stronger than the peer pressures of youth culture. It is He who can give you better guidance than the worldly wisdom floating around. He has sided with you.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.
Because we have the Spirit we can let goods and kindred go. Dear Parent, do you believe that if your child gained the whole they could still lose their soul? What good would that be? Are we teaching our children to value the world and the things of the world or are we teaching them to lose all for the sake of Christ? Is your parenting motto like Paul’s life motto: To live is Christ and to die is gain?
The culture is constantly tempting you to think that it can satisfy our eternal desires. The new iPhone, the subscription to Netflix, the next post on Instagram, the cool group of kids at school, making that sports team, getting that grade, having that relationship, or developing that success. All these things tempt us and our children to think that the world can satisfy us. We must teach our children that there is One who surpasses it all! There is One of such great worth and value that all the riches of the world are worth throwing out in order that we might know Him.
Dear Parent, do our children see in us such a desire to know God that we wouldn’t be ashamed to die for Him? Do our children see our confidence in God in the face of opposition? Does our faith in our Fortress make our children fearless? It is His kingdom that will forever stand. Dear Parent, do not fear. God will never be conquered nor caught in the hand of the Enemy. His kingdom is undefeated and unstoppable. No matter what threatens your family, you can be sure that nothing will defeat God’s kingdom. This is your hope. This is your God.