⬅️ Back to Compositions

This anthem is my take on Martin Luther’s well-known hymn “Lord, keep us steadfast in your word.” I have set three verses of the hymn that follow the familiar Father/Son/Holy Spirit structure of many Christian hymns. The hymn expresses a sense of danger and menace, arising from the fact that in 1541 when Luther wrote the hymn the armies of the Ottoman Empire had just captured most of Hungary, which was a very big deal to Christian Europe. But the message of the hymn is also timeless: trust in God alone, pray that he will bring “peace and unity on earth,” and know that God will be there for us when we transition “from death to life.”