Be not dismayed, thou little flock, Although the foe's fierce battle shock Loud on all sides assail thee. Though o'er thy fall they laugh secure, Their triumph cannot long endure, Let not thy courage fail thee. Thy cause is God's--go at His call, And to His hand commit thine all; Fear thou no ill impending; His Gideon shall arise for thee, God's Word and people manfully In God's own time defending. Our hope is sure in Jesus' might; Against themselves the godless fight, Themselves, not us, distressing; Shame and contempt their lot shall be; God is with us, with Him are we; To us belongs His blessing. Johann Michael Altenberg, 1631 A Hymn Made Famous on a Battle Field "Be not dismayed, thou little flock" will always be known as the "swan-song" of the Swedish hero king, Gustavus Adolphus. No incident in modern history is more dramatic than the sudden appearance in Germany of Gustavus Adolphus and his little Swedish army during the critical days of the Thirty Years' War. It was this victorious crusade that saved Germany, and probably all of northern Europe, for Protestantism. The untimely death of the Swedish monarch on the battlefield of Luetzen, November 6, 1632, while leading his men against Wallenstein's host, not only gained immortal fame for Gustavus, but will always cause the world to remember the hymn that was sung by his army on that historic day. When Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany in 1630 with his small but well-trained army, it seemed that the Protestant cause in Europe was lost. All the Protestant princes of Germany had been defeated by Tilly and Wallenstein, leaders of the Imperial armies, and the victors were preparing to crush every vestige of Lutheranism in Germany. The Margrave of Brandenburg and the Duke of Saxony, however, furnished a few troops to Gustavus, and in a swift, meteoric campaign the Swedish king had routed the army of the Catholic League and had marched all the way across Germany. In the spring of 1632 Gustavus moved into the heart of Bavaria and captured Munich. The Imperial forces who had sneered at the "Snow King," as they called him, and who had predicted that he would "melt" as he came southward, were now filled with dismay. The "Snow King" proved to be the "Lion of the North." Wallenstein rallied the Catholic forces for a last stand at Luetzen, the battle that was to prove the decisive conflict. On the morning of November 6, 1632, the two armies faced each other in battle array. Dr. Fabricius, chaplain of the Swedish army, had been commanded by Gustavus to lead his troops in worship. The king himself raised the strains of "Be not dismayed, thou little flock," and led the army in singing the stirring hymn. Then he knelt in fervent prayer.