Vtan herren faller oss til
The Lord Our Only Defense
The believer acknowledges that without God's protection, all human effort is futile against the enemy.
Unless the Lord comes to our aid when our enemies fight against us, our cause is lost; we can't withstand them. If he isn't Israel’s protector, watching over us all, then all our effort is in vain.✦✦✦ We shouldn't be intimidated by human strength or great wisdom. The Lord who lives on high will uncover their plans. No matter how wisely they act, God will still take another way. Everything rests in his hands.
The Fury of the Persecutors
The hymn describes the violent intent and hypocritical nature of those who persecute the faithful in God's name.
They rush forward fiercely, as if they intend to devour us. All their desire is set on killing; surely this is to forget God. Just as the waves of the sea surge against us here, so they seek our lives. May God have mercy on this. They call us heretics and thirst for our blood, yet they claim to be the only ones who honor God. Oh God, they hide their villainy and shame behind your holy name; one day you must awaken.
God's Deliverance and Firm Foundation
God intervenes to break the snares of the wicked, providing a secure foundation for those who trust in Him.
Even though they open their mouths wide as if to swallow us, may God always be praised: he frustrates their plans, tears their snare apart, and proves their teaching false, no matter what they do. Our help and comfort are in the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He strengthens the heart within us; otherwise our cause would be lost. Here we can stand secure: firm is the foundation we build on—who, then, can overthrow us?
Read the original Latin
VTan herren faller oss til/ när fiendanar mot oss strijdha/ så är mz oss förlorat spil/ wij kunne them ey bijdha/ Om han Israels beskerm ey är/ och för oss alla vmsorg bäär/ fåfeng är tå wor mödha
Menniskios krafft och wijsheet stoor/ moste oss ey förskreckia/ herren som j högdenne boor/ scal theres rådh wel vpteckia/ handle så wijsliga som the må/ gud scal doch en annan wägh gå/ thet står alt j hans händer
The rasa fast och trädha fram her/ som the skulle oss vpäta/ til dråp står alt theres begier/ slijkt är iw gud förgäta/ som hafsens wåger her in slå/ så the ock epter wort lijff stå/ ther gud sich offuer förbarme
Oss for kettare skella the/ epter wort blod the wacta/ doch låta the sich tyckia och see/ at the alleena gud acta/ ah gud vnder tit helga nampn/ skyla the sijn skalcheet och skam/ tu moste en gong vpwaka
Om the än vpgapa fast wijdt/ som the oss vpsluka wille/ doch wari gud loffuat alltijd/ som theres rådh förspiller/ theres snaro sönder riffuer han/ theres lära pröffuas osan/ ee hwad the ther om göra
I herranom står wor hielp och tröst/ som himmel och iord haffuer skapat/ han styrker hirtan j wor bröst/ elles wore wor saak tapat/ trygge måghe wij her widh stå/ fast är then grund wij bygge vppå/ hoo kan oss tå vmstyrta.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.121.4 — Behold, the Keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
- ↩Ps.124.1-Ps.124.5 — A Song of Ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side - let Israel say it now - Ps.124.2 — if the LORD had not been on our side when people rose up against us, Ps.124.3 — then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger burned against us. Ps.124.4 — Then the waters would have overwhelmed us; the torrent would have swept over our lives. Ps.124.5 — Then the raging waters would have swept over our lives.
- ↩Ps.127.1-Ps.127.2 — A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Ps.127.2 — It is futile for you—rising early, staying late, eating the bread of anxious toil—for so He gives sleep to His beloved.
Early Swedish Hymns companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing