They were 30-somethings and parents, three-times-over. Nathan and Christy Nockels might say that was a chief motivator for them as they thought about how best to maximize their example as God-believers before their children, and before the Atlanta area where they had recently arrived in 2008. And so, “A Mighty Fortress” and its original pedigree acquired some five centuries earlier seemed to fit the attitude that Nathan and Christy sought – that a believer, Martin Luther, whose very life was in mortal danger or who witnessed other episodes of danger or death for people close to himself, did not shrink when faced with these things. (See this blogger’s entry for Martin Luther’s great classic hymn in the August 29, 2009 post.) Courage is a trust in God that doesn’t give up, these two parents might have said to their three kids. And so, they must have reasoned that since they were musicians at heart, a song to underscore this confidence in God would be the best way to emphasize this.
This is not the Martin Luther song that we all know, though the Nockels did borrow one line from Luther’s hand – his original song title. The Nockels’ version of ‘A Mighty Fortress’ has lots of awesome metaphors for God…He’s not only the ‘mighty fortress’, aka ‘bulwark’ that Luther wrote about, but also a ‘consuming fire’ (Ex. 24:17, Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29), a ‘burning holy flame’, the ‘righteous judge’, a ‘sacred refuge’. These are all great ways to address Him, especially in music, and you can sense, when you turn the pages of scripture for yourself, that Nathan and Christy must have found a lot of these names for Him also in the Psalms. Christy spells out for worshippers that she feared for her children when she looked at her surrounding world. She needed reminders from Him, especially about His promises, all believers’ future reign with Him, and the certain strength of His kingdom’s foundations. Those are things she thought she and Nathan could lead their kids to hold close to themselves, in unshakeable trust. ‘…Keep (ing) our eyes on You’ must have been a personal declaration they wanted their offspring to adopt into their beings. Perhaps they thought of it as similar to other habits or skills parents might best teach their kids when they’re young, like learning to swim, playing an instrument, or reading and writing (perhaps even in a language other than one’s native tongue). Want to be really fluent and treat as implicit to one’s character some things? Then, begin practicing them as a child. Then, as adults, not only are eyes fixed on God, but ‘hearts are…’ too.
Nathan and Christy evidently wanted their children to know other things about this ‘Mighty Fortress’, other characteristics of Him that would in turn shape their own characters. ‘Glory and freedom’, along with ‘kindness and wisdom’ (v.1) are part of His multifaceted nature, as is His ‘jealous(y) for His own’ (v.2). Yes, He’s many things that are to be praised, especially ‘love and mercy’ (v.2), without which all of us mortals would be extinguished if they were not present in our Creator. He’s ‘exalted on His throne’ ‘above the heavens’ (v.2). An everlasting worthiness (v.2) is therefore intrinsic to this unique Being. He alone has all of these powers and attributes. It’s a fearsome, even uneasy sensation of God that the Nockels’ song inspires, with some minor chords and an ending that does not bring the worshipper ‘home’ (to the root chord). Those might seem like kinda obscure, music-nerdy, inconsequential details, but Nathan and Christy seemed to know what they were doing, and how to introduce their kids to the real God. He’s breathtaking and beautiful all at once…and so much more.
See here for information about one author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Nockels
See here for some comments on song by authoress: https://www.last.fm/music/Christy+Nockels/+wiki
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