# “Luther took his Psalter and went to his room” by Gustav Wiencke

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2015/02/06/luther-took-his-psalter-and-went-to-his-room-by-gustav-wiencke/
- Published: 2015-02-06T17:00:51-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“Twenty years after Luther had been at the Castle Coburg during the Diet of Augsburg,
Mathaeus Ratzeberger, Luther’s physician, visited there. He made a point of inspecting
the room Luther had used as a study and meticulously noted down the verses which
Luther had written on the wall.

One was Ps. 118:17, ‘I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of 
the Lord.’ To the verse Luther had added musical notes for singing. Other psalm 
verses were also marked on the wall.

It was Luther’s custom to write down verses and words where he could have them before
his eyes. When the news of his father’s death reached him at the Coburg, Luther 
took his Psalter, went to his room, and was not seen the rest of the day.”

–Martin Luther, “[Sayings in Which Luther Found Comfort](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800698835?tag=toletaupanre-20)”
in [_Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800698835?tag=toletaupanre-20)(
ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1999), 43: 169.

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