Saul's Armor

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When first my soul enlisted

Author: John Newton
Published in 20 hymnals

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1 When first my soul enlisted,
My Savior's foes to fight;
Mistaken friends insisted,
I was not arm'd aright,
So Saul advised David,
He certainly would fail;
Nor could his life be saved,
Without a coat of Mail.

2 But David tho' he yielded,
To put the armor on,
Soon found he could not wield it,
And ventur'd forth with none,
With only sling and pebble,
He fought the fight of faith;
The weapon seem'd but feeble,
Yet prov'd Goliah's death.

3 Had I by him been guided,
And quickly thrown away
The armor men provided,
I might have gain'd the day,
But arm'd as they advis'd me,
My expectations fail'd,
The enemy surpris'd me,
And had almost prevail'd.

4 Furnish'd with books and notions,
And practis'd all my motions
And Satan's pow'r defi'd:
But soon perceiv'd with trouble,
That these would do no good,
Iron to them is stubble,
And brass like rotten wood.

5 I triumph'd at a distance,
While he was out of sight;
But faint was my resistance,
When forc'd to join in fight,
He broke my sword in shivers,
And pierc'd my boasted shield,
Laugh'd at my vain endeavors,
And drove me from the field.

6 Satan will not be braved
By such a worm as I:
Then let me learn with David,
To trust in the Most High;
To plead the name of Jesus,
And use the sling of pray'r;
Thus arm'd when Satan sees us,
He'll tremble, and despair.

Source: Divine Hymns or Spiritual Songs, for the use of religious assemblies and private Christians: being a collection #AXIII

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Author: John Newton

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

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