4th century BC
Plato
- Idealism — forms over particulars
- The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
Notes
The puffed-up man fought to win. This song is about a younger man who fought to save - a kinder mistake, but a mistake all the same. In youth, I fought with truth in hand, and words that pounded like a drum. I genuinely wanted people in the kingdom. I just thought my arguments were what put them there. I would make them see. I would make them understand. As if the strength were mine.
It is not, and that is the whole song - and one of the most freeing things I have ever learned: I tell the truth, but He saves the soul. There is a division of labor in salvation, and I am only on one side of it. Look at Lydia in Acts 16: Paul spoke, but it was the Lord who opened her heart. Paul did not pry it open with a sharper argument. He could not have. You cannot beat the truth into a mind or scare it into a soul.
And hear what a mercy that is. If the saving were mine to do, every lost friend would be a verdict on my skill, and I would pound that drum until I broke. Monergism takes the drum out of my hands. My job is to scatter the feed and tell the truth in love - like hungry chickens fed with care - then rest, and wait, and trust the mighty hand that is actually in control.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
In youth, I fought with truth in hand,
And words that pounded like a drum,
I’d make them see, I’d make them understand,
And bring them all to kingdom come.
But in my zeal, I couldn’t see,
That it was not my strength that mattered,
But the Lord’s sovereignty, that held the key,
His power, that was not to be battered.
[Chorus]
It ain’t my strength,
It ain’t my will,
Only the Lord can calm a heart so still.
I tell the truth,
But He saves the soul -
His mighty hand
Is in control.
[Verse 2]
Like Lydia, the seller of purple,
Whose heart the Lord had opened wide,
She listened to the words of Paul,
And in the truth, she did abide.
We cannot beat the truth into minds,
We cannot scare or threaten souls,
Only the Spirit of the Lord,
Can make the truth take its tolls.
[Chorus]
It ain’t my strength,
It ain’t my will,
Only the Lord can calm a heart so still.
I tell the truth,
But He saves the soul -
His mighty hand
Is in control.
[Verse 3]
We must trust in the Lord’s sovereignty,
And rest in His control,
Gently present the truth in love,
And wait for hearts to be made whole.
Like hungry chickens fed with care,
Needy sinners will come to partake,
In the satisfying food of the Gospel,
The Lord will lead them, for His sake.
[Final Chorus]
It ain’t my strength,
It ain’t my will,
Only the Lord can calm a heart so still.
I tell the truth,
But He saves the soul -
His mighty hand
Is in control.
Commentary