Page:The letters of Martin Luther.djvu/324

 friends have informed me that you are afflicted with weariness of life, and longing for death. Oh, dear friend, it is high time for you to mistrust your own thoughts, and listen to others who have overcome such temptations — nay, put your ear close to our mouths, and let our words sink into your heart, and God will comfort and strengthen you thereby. First, you know one must obey God’s will, for He has given you life, and as yet does not will your death; so you must submit your thoughts to the said Divine will.

Our Lord Christ had much that was bitter in His life, but He would not lay it down without His Father’s will, retaining it as long as He could, saying, “My hour is not yet come.” And Elias, Jonas, and other prophets cried for death, through their sufferings, even cursing the day of their birth, and yet they were compelled to live on and put up with this weariness till their hour came.

Therefore, pluck up heart, and bid defiance to yourself, exclaiming, “My good fellow, when thou art so unwilling to live, then thou must live in spite of thyself, for God wills it so and I also. Throw your devilish thoughts into the abyss of hell, with their dying and death, for they are of no avail here, and grind your teeth together, determined to repulse those which have found refuge in your head, making you as stubborn as the worst of peasants, or a woman — nay, even harder, for they are not made of castiron!”

If you thus struggle against yourself, God will assuredly help, and our prayers, with those of all pious Christians, will do the rest.

I herewith commit you to our dear Lord, the only Savior, Christ Jesus, who will retain the mastery in your heart against the devil, and cause us all to rejoice in the marvelous help accorded to you, for which we hope and pray, as He has commanded and promised. Amen. MARTIN LUTHER.

WITTENBERG. (De Wette.)