In God's Armor, Track 13. A devotional on 1 Samuel 17:45, 47.
The Scripture
"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." (1 Samuel 17:45, KJV)
"And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands." (1 Samuel 17:47, KJV)
The Heart of It
Every generation knows this story, and every generation needs it again. A giant towered on the field, and all of Israel shook with dread. For forty days Goliath came out morning and evening and defied the armies of the living God, and for forty days trained soldiers looked at the size of the man and stayed in their tents. Fear does that. It measures the enemy and forgets to measure God.
Then a shepherd boy arrived with bread and cheese for his brothers, and he heard the giant with different ears. Where the army heard a warrior too big to fight, David heard a mortal man defying the God of Israel. Saul tried to dress him in the king's own armor, and David put it off - not because armor is wrong, but because borrowed armor is. This whole album has sung of armor that is given, not manufactured, and David went to the field wearing exactly that: the name of the Lord of hosts.
Listen to how he answers the giant. Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts. David does not pretend the sword and spear are not real. He simply knows they are not decisive. The Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's. One smooth stone from a shepherd's sling, and the giant that terrified an army lay face down in the dust.
And notice where David's confidence came from. It was not bravado; it was memory. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. David had kept a private history of God's faithfulness, and when the public crisis came, he drew on it. The lions and the bears were the rehearsal. Faith grows in the unseen valleys before it stands in the famous ones.
Every believer has a Goliath - a fear, a habit, a diagnosis, a circumstance that comes out morning and evening to taunt. This song is for the day you stop measuring the giant and start remembering the Lord. Whatever giant stands in your way, the Lord of hosts will win the day.
More Witnesses: Latter-day Scripture
The Book of Mormon opens with its own young man facing an impossible foe. Nephi, sent back to Jerusalem against a powerful and dangerous man, answered his doubting brothers in words David would have recognized: "Let us be strong like unto Moses... the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians" (1 Nephi 4:2-3). Like David, Nephi measured the threat against the history of God's deliverance, and went forward.
And the Doctrine and Covenants speaks to every small and outnumbered people who trust in the Lord: "Fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail" (Doctrine and Covenants 6:34). A little flock against earth and hell combined - those are David's odds on the field of Elah, and the same promise holds. Built on the rock, we cannot be overcome.
How the Song Carries It
The verses tell the story the way scripture tells it, spoken and unhurried: "a giant towered on the field, and all of Israel shook with dread. But one young shepherd would not bow, he trusted in the Lord instead." The second verse follows him down to the brook - five smooth stones, the run toward the foe, the stone that flew true - "and laid the proud Philistine low."
The pre-chorus is David's own creed set to melody: "no sword, no spear, no armor mine, I come to him in name divine." Then the chorus falls like the giant itself: "and Goliath falls before the Lord, one smooth stone and the giant is down. Not by the sword, but by the name, the God of Israel wins renown." The bridge turns the story toward the singer - "the lions, the bears, the Lord brought through, the same strong hand will see me too" - so that by the final chorus, Goliath is no longer only a Philistine. He is whatever stands against you, and he falls.
The Lyrics
Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.
For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.
A giant towered on the field,
And all of Israel shook with dread.
But one young shepherd would not bow,
He trusted in the Lord instead.
No sword, no spear, no armor mine,
I come to him in name divine.
And Goliath falls before the Lord,
One smooth stone and the giant is down.
Not by the sword, but by the name,
The God of Israel wins renown.
He chose five stones beside the brook,
He ran to meet the towering foe.
He swung in faith, the stone flew true,
And laid the proud Philistine low.
The lions, the bears, the Lord brought through,
The same strong hand will see me too.
Whatever giant stands my way,
The Lord of hosts will win the day.
The battle is the Lord's.
And Goliath falls.
A Blessing
Name your giant today, and then stop measuring it. Remember instead the lions and the bears - every time the Lord has already brought you through. The same strong hand that guided a shepherd's stone is not shortened now. Come to your battle in the name of the Lord of hosts, and watch the proud thing fall. Go in peace.
Scripture References
- 1 Samuel 17:45, 47
- 1 Samuel 17:37
- 1 Nephi 4:2-3 (Book of Mormon)
- Doctrine and Covenants 6:34