Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday May 11, 2010

I have long been a fan of Martin Luther's tremendous courage and his genius. Along with his prowess in things theological he was a master musician. His most famous song, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" has moved this Baptist for many years.

Today's quote comes from Luther's pen of fire and is in my opinion right on the mark:

"Next the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts and spirits. A person who does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and grunting of hogs."

Aside from the timidity demonstrated above, Luther was strongly committed to good music. To give many modern music critics room for fodder I add that he often created quite a stir by using tunes to his fine words that were famous in taverns.

On another occasion Martin Luther wrote, "Next to theology, the Devil hates music because it drives away temptation and evil thoughts."

We know this to be true as God used the music of David, the Psalmist of Israel to calm the raging demons in the wicked heart of Saul, the donkey herder whom the rebellious children of Israel selected for the King in order to be like the heathen around them.

I like a good song and I am moved to more Godly thoughts when I hear it. A man wrote to me and expressed disgust because I admitted to what he termed "carnal tastes." I replied that I could not help it if he is under developed in this area and has no ear or heart for the melodies of the city celestial.

When I was but a child I remember my mother, who had at that time no church affiliation taking us kids to town to get a few groceries when we had any money. Often it would be dark by the time we headed home. As we walked home, each child carrying a small bag of groceries, we would come to the end of the paved road, and begin the last leg of the trip on a dirt road which wound through a small park and over an iron bridge. The park was unbelievably dark and in my mind harbored all sorts of evil, perhaps even a few neighbors. (You would have to have known some of our neighbors).

Mom would start singing at the top of her voluminous German voice and us kids would join in, thus scaring the daylights out of anyone or thing with evil intentions. Our fear was not without foundation as a few people over the years had been killed walking through the park.

In the ensuing years I have vociferously belted out a few of those old songs as I walked through deep darkness while Jesus was holding my hand. I shall continue this practice I learned long ago.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010 Use with credit. Luther info from "Then Sings My Soul" Robert Morgan

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