Not by Sword or Spear
Judges 6:15–16 “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” “Surely I will be with you,” the Lord replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.” Chapter Related Judges 7:2–3 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained. Chapter Related 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” Chapter Related 1 Samuel 17:45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” Chapter Related 1 Samuel 17:47 “And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord ’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” Chapter Related 2 Chronicles 20:12 “Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” Chapter Related Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Chapter Related
He Gives Power to the Faint
Exodus 4:10–12 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” And the Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord ? Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” Chapter Related Psalm 147:10–11 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion. Chapter Related Psalm 18:32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear. Chapter Related Isaiah 40:29–31 He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Chapter Related
Crucified in Weakness
Isaiah 53:2–3 He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Chapter Related Mark 5:30 At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?” Chapter Related Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Chapter Related Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Chapter Related Romans 5:6 For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Chapter Related 2 Corinthians 13:4 For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. For we are also weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him concerning you. Chapter Related
Clothed with Power from on High
Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Chapter Related Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Chapter Related Acts 3:12 And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Chapter Related Acts 4:13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. Chapter Related Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. Chapter Related 1 Corinthians 2:3–5 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. Chapter Related
My Power Is Perfected in Weakness
1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Chapter Related 2 Corinthians 4:7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. Chapter Related 2 Corinthians 12:7–8 So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Chapter Related 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Chapter Related Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. Chapter Related Ephesians 3:20–21 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Chapter Related
God keeps cutting his people’s strength down before he acts. Gideon says his clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and God sends most of his army home so that Israel cannot say, “My own hand has saved me.” Jonathan says nothing can hinder the Lord from saving “whether by many or by few.” David walks out against a man in armor and says it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. Jehoshaphat, facing a vast army, prays, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” Moses says he is slow of speech, and the answer is not that he is stronger than he thinks but “I will help you.” The Lord takes no pleasure in the legs of a man; he arms the weak with strength and gives power to the faint. Then God does it in his own Son: a tender shoot out of dry ground, a man who prays with loud cries and tears, who can sympathize with our weaknesses, “crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power.” The disciples wait until they are clothed with power from on high, and then Peter asks why anyone would think they made a lame man walk by their own power. Paul comes to Corinth “in weakness and fear,” and says the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. The treasure is in jars of clay. Paul pleads three times for his thorn to be taken away and hears, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” So he delights in weaknesses: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”