Thereupon Dr. Weller arrived very troubled and depressed. Luther comforted him and told him to give his heart to the Lord and seek fellowship with men. Luther asked whether he was angry with God or with Luther or with himself.
Weller replied, "I confess that I am murmuring against God."
To this Luther said, "God will give up nothing. I, too, often honor God in this way. When I should procure good incense for Him I bring Him the stinking pitch and fetid dung of murmuring and impatience. If we didn't have the article concerning the forgiveness of sins (which God has promised surely to keep) we'd be in a bad way."
Weller said, "The devil is a master at taking hold of us where it hurts most."
Luther: "Yes, he doesn't learn this from us. He is quite agile. If he hasn't exempted the patriarchs, the prophets, and the Prince of prophets, Christ, he will not spare us. He can make the oddest syllogisms: 'You have sinned. God is angry with sinners. Therefore despair!' Accordingly we must proceed from the law to the gospel and grasp the article concerning the forgiveness of sins. You are not the only one, dear brother, who suffers from such anguish. Peter admonishes us not to be surprised when the same experience of suffering is required of the brotherhood (Cf. 1 Pet. 5:9). Moses, David, and Isaiah suffered much and often. What kind of trials do you suppose David was going through when he composed the psalm, 'O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger' [Ps. 6:1]? He would rather have died by the sword than to have experienced these horrible feelings against God and of God against him. I believe that confessors have to endure more than martyrs, for day after day they see idolatries, offenses, and sins, the prosperity and security of the godless, and on the other hand the anxieties of the godly who are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." [Cf. Ps. 44:22)
Continuation of Consolation
Thereupon he entreated Weller to cultivate the company of men when he is afflicted with such melancholy and not live alone. "'Woe to him who is alone,' the preacher says [Eccles. 4:10]. When I'm morose I flee above all from solitude. Christ was Himself tempted by Satan when our Lord was alone in the wilderness [Cf. Matt. 4:1-11]. On the other hand, the wilderness of John the Baptist was inhabited like Düben, Jessen, and other places; he was among men. In short, spiritual anguish exceeds bodily suffering by far. The anguish of Judas- "you have betrayed innocent blood" - became for him the most awful death."
"This is especially so when the devil turns the gospel into law. The teachings of the law and gospel are altogether necessary, but they must be distinguished even when they are conjoined, otherwise men will despair or become presumptuous. Consequently Moses describes these teachings well when he speaks of an upper and lower millstone [Cf. Deut. 24:6]. The upper millstone rumbles and pounds. This is the law. It's very well set up by God so that it grinds. On the other hand, the lower millstone is quiet, and this is the gospel. Our Lord God has suspended the upper millstone in such a way that the grain is crushed and ground only on the lower stone."
"This is my only and my best advice: Don't remain alone when you are assailed! Flee solitude! Do as that monk did who, when he felt tempted in his cell, said, 'I won't stay here; I'll run out of the cell to my brethren.' So it's reported of Paul in the book of Acts [27:33; 28:15] that he suffered for fourteen days from severe hunger and from shipwreck and afterward was received by his brethren and took courage. This is what I do too. I'd rather go to my swineherd Joh, or even to the pigs themselves, than remain alone."
Martin Luther
Table Talk, March 29, 1538
Luther's Works Vol, 54, pp. 275-277
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