“Here I stand” in the fear of the Lord

This is an excerpt from an article written by Rev. Jacob Maatman. The article will be published in the Special Reformation Issue issue of The Standard Bearer, November 1, 2021.

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Martin Luther stood in the fear of the Lord. Already at his first appearing, we see it. Why did he ask for time to prepare an answer? In his own words: “Because this is a question of faith and the salvation of souls, and because it concerns the divine Word…it would be rash and at the same time dangerous for me to put forth anything without proper consideration.” [10] He went on to quote Matthew 10:33, words that stood large before him. Here is a man neither headstrong nor cocksure, but one who feared God. He was confident, but not self-confident. Listen to his prayer; he felt his own weakness, but upon the Lord he relied. At the diet, many and great were the faces and the power they wielded, and what was he? But there was a witness that day (though you would not have seen him with your eyes), someone watching and listening who had more hold on Luther than anyone else: the living God, to whose Word Luther’s conscience was captive. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Prov. 29:25).

[10] Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 32, 107.

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