Reflections on a Hymn

Greetings,

I have been reading through Roland Bainton's biography of Luther: Here I Stand. I love the story of Luther, for he is one of the more "earthly" of the reformers of the Church. Calvin stands as a figure of tremendous intellect and a systematizer of Christian Truth. Spurgeon was given a gift of verbal eloquence that would rival Chrysostom. But Luther, Luther was just a man of the common people. Sure enough he was a man of letters, but at his heart Luther was a common man who was not afraid to speak in the crude manner of a common German peasant. This ability would be used of God to start a great revival, but his mouth often got him into more trouble than was necessary. He was just an ordinary man used by God to deliver an extraordinary message, not only to the people of his day, but to all of western society that would come after him: God has reconciled man to Himself in the cross of Christ.
The Lord spoke through Luther's pulpit sermons, Christ also gave Luther the gift of Music. He wrote numerous hymns and set the psalms to tunes that were quite lively. He was also known for having a good tenor voice. Here is an example of his hymn writing:

In devil's dungeon chained I lay
The pangs of death swept o'er me.
My sin devoured me night or day
In which my mother bore me.
My anguish grew more rife,
I took no pleasure in my life
And sin had made me crazy.

Then was the Father troubled sore
To see me ever languish.
The Everlasting Pity swore
To save me from my anguish.
He turned to me His Father's heart
And chose Himself a bitter part,
His Dearest did it cost Him.

Thus spoke the Son, "Hold thou to me,
From now on thou wilt make it.
I gave my very life for thee
And for thee I will stake it.
For I am thine and thou art mine,
And where I am our lives entwine,
The Old Fiend cannot shake it."

It is an amazing thing really, when form and content meet. Much like a meal that is well balanced: a large portion of meat to nourish the stomach, and a portion of Dark Chocolate to ensure the taste buds will dance with glee.
I enjoy Luther's reflection on a life in sin as ripping all pleasure from life and making one crazy. Verily, I think the end of one's life, if it be not centered on Christ, is doomed to hysteria. Over the time of my rather short life I have pondered many thoughts about Christ, but never has my apperception considered Christ the "Everlasting Pity". And it truly is a glorious thought to entertain: that Christ and our "lives entwine." As Luther would say:

"This it is to behold God in faith that you should look upon his fatherly, friendly heart, in which there is no anger nor ungraciousness. He who see God as angry does not see him rightly but looks only on a curtain, as if a dark cloud had been drawn across his face."