Enter His Court with Singing

Book excerpt: At the close of the fifteenth century came a talented young man from a small German village whose only ambition was to serve God as a musician. Lorenz Lemlin was a gifted singer and player of the lute, but he was destined to become much more. Providence led him to Heidelberg where he eventually became an instrumental figure at the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. From the lofty ramparts of the Heidelberg Castle, he was poised to watch history unfold around him. He was surrounded by scenes such as Martin Luther’s defiance of Rome and subsequent trial at Worms, the bloody Peasants’ Rebellion, and a sympathetic ruler who embraced Luther’s doctrines. In Heidelberg, Lemlin finds God’s will for his life in the ministry of music at the court of Elector Ludwig V. While attending the university, Lorenz meets Liesl Gunter, a pretty tailor’s daughter with whom he shares happiness and sorrow. Their eventual love is deceitfully stolen from them, but each finds strength in God’s love for the dangerous and lonely challenges that lay ahead.