PSALM SIXTY-NINE

Therefore go down with Jacob weeping to hell (Gen. 37:35). Mark this sign for yourself: When you are lukewarm and not in hell with your heart, know that there is danger for you, and peace and security are lying in ambush for you to bring you to destruction. For that reason you must not let your eyeball rest day or night, and you must not allow yourself any rest and peace (that is, security), because if you do, destruction will then unexpectedly come over you. Therefore Christ descended once, and all should follow Him wherever He might go, for He has commanded that we should follow Him. But if we are to do so in all other matters, why not also in this? Therefore, if you are looking for a sign of God’s grace, and whether Christ is in you, behold, no sign will be given you except the sign of the prophet Jonah (Matt. 12:39 f.). If, then, you have been three days in hell, this is a sign that Christ is with you and you are with Christ. Therefore you must be full of fear lest Ezek. 16:42 be cited to you: “My indignation shall rest on thee, and my jealousy shall depart from thee.” Nothing is worse than this wrath. For if jealousy is removed, love must at the same time be removed, since the two are inseparable companions. Ps. 4:1: “When I was in distress, Thou hast enlarged me.” So, on the contrary, “When I was in security, without doubt Thou hast constricted me and compressed me.” Ps. 17:36: “Thy discipline shall teach me.” Therefore, on the contrary, “My peace will unteach me.” –Martin Luther