Prayer for Protection
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
PSALM 2:10-11
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Prayer for Protection
We see in the sacred histories, as well in all the histories of the Gentiles, how many and various are the stratagems and tricks through which the devil has always sought to rule at the courts of kings and princes (for he sees that from them issues the greatest and most wholesome benefits for the church and state), and striven to overturn everything. Thus, unless this prayer surrounds and encloses a prince—"May the name of the God of Jacob protect you; may He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion" [Psalm 20:1-2]—he will certainly not be able to carry his burden and to endure all by himself in the midst of so many dragons, serpents, wolves, foxes, and whatever worse monsters there be, the servants of the raging devil, that is, in the midst of deceitful counselors, faithless friends, traitorous servants, and rapacious nobles. And yet he is compelled to live and rule among them. . .. Wherefore let the church and everyone who wants to belong to Christ . . . with faithful and earnest prayers to God support them against their chief enemy, the devil. In this way we not only make a most agreeable offering to God but also bestow a necessary and salutary benefit upon ourselves. For who can express adequately in thought, much less in words, what a blessing it is to live under a good and beneficent prince who seeks, increases, and upholds the glory of God and the well-being of the commonwealth? These are the gifts and (as Scripture says) the most splendid blessings of God.
From Luther's preface to John Frederick 11 and John William of Saxony, Declamations (Luther's Works 60:314)
PSALM 2:10-11
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Prayer for Protection
We see in the sacred histories, as well in all the histories of the Gentiles, how many and various are the stratagems and tricks through which the devil has always sought to rule at the courts of kings and princes (for he sees that from them issues the greatest and most wholesome benefits for the church and state), and striven to overturn everything. Thus, unless this prayer surrounds and encloses a prince—"May the name of the God of Jacob protect you; may He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion" [Psalm 20:1-2]—he will certainly not be able to carry his burden and to endure all by himself in the midst of so many dragons, serpents, wolves, foxes, and whatever worse monsters there be, the servants of the raging devil, that is, in the midst of deceitful counselors, faithless friends, traitorous servants, and rapacious nobles. And yet he is compelled to live and rule among them. . .. Wherefore let the church and everyone who wants to belong to Christ . . . with faithful and earnest prayers to God support them against their chief enemy, the devil. In this way we not only make a most agreeable offering to God but also bestow a necessary and salutary benefit upon ourselves. For who can express adequately in thought, much less in words, what a blessing it is to live under a good and beneficent prince who seeks, increases, and upholds the glory of God and the well-being of the commonwealth? These are the gifts and (as Scripture says) the most splendid blessings of God.
From Luther's preface to John Frederick 11 and John William of Saxony, Declamations (Luther's Works 60:314)
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