Frances Jane “Fanny” Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in a small township north of New York City. At six weeks of age she developed a serious eye infection which damaged her optic nerve. The result was total blindness. In November of that same year her father died necessitating the move to live with her maternal grandmother. Her mother and grandmother worked diligently to educate her and taught her Protestant Christian principles. With their encouragement, at the tender age of 10, she began memorizing long passages from the Bible. Before long she was memorizing five chapters a week and by the age of fifteen she had completely memorized the four gospels, the Song of Solomon, the Book of Proverbs and many of the Psalms.
In her adult years she became a prolific writer of poetry and religious songs. During her lifetime she wrote over 8,000 hymns including one of my personal favorites, “Behold! A Royal Army.” When I ponder the imagery in this hymn and remember her lifetime of blindness I can’t help but feel that the words she penned expressed an inspired vision of these latter days.
"Behold! A royal army,
With banner, sword, and shield,
Is marching forth to conquer
On life’s great battlefield.
Its ranks are filled with soldiers,
United, bold and strong,
Who follow their Commander
And sing their joyful song:
Victory, victory,
Thru Him that redeemed us!
Victory, victory
Thru Jesus Christ our Lord!"
(“Behold! A Royal Army,” Hymns [1985], no. 251).
So who are these soldiers of whom we sing?
In section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which constitutes the Lord’s preface to the doctrines, covenants and commandments given in this dispensation, the Lord revealed:
“And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.”
Who was the Lord speaking about in this verse when He proclaimed, “And they shall go forth and none shall stay them.”
Missionaries? Yes.
But that’s not all. I believe this promise applies equally to all who are converted, have a testimony of Jesus Christ, and a desire to share the message of His restored gospel.
In my last post titled “Valiant for Courage” I described being boldly courageous, a characteristic possessed by those who’ve chosen to stand and fight on the Lord’s side in the ongoing battles with evil. In accordance with the scriptural accounts of the ammonite youth known as Helaman’s stripling warriors and in harmony with the imagery expressed in Fanny Crosby’s poetic words, that of life’s spiritual battlefields, let me add several additional characteristics necessary for soldiers enlisted in the Lord’s royal army.
Uprightness
“Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.”
Uprightness is an attribute of God (see Psalm 92:15). It is the divine quality of character that keeps us on a course of honesty and integrity. This quality develops and matures as we obey the laws and commandments of God. To walk uprightly before God we strive to avoid sin, even the very appearance of sin. We choose wisely friends who are also making every effort to walk uprightly before the Lord. We don’t shy away from standing up for our values and we don’t feign indifference to evil or wicked practices or pretend to go along with the crowd.
“The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.”
We exemplify uprightness by our honesty with ourselves, our fellow man and by keeping our covenants with God. The young men of Helaman’s army learned from the examples of their parents. Once converted, their parents were willing to give up their lives rather than shed another’s blood and risk breaking the covenants that they made with God.
“Uprightness is evident when you do things for the right reasons, whether or not a favorable outcome is guaranteed.”
Faith
In the story of the stripling warriors, we see that their faith had its roots in the teachings of their parents, specifically their mothers. In a letter to Captain Moroni, Helaman wrote the following:
“Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. (Alma 56:47-48). ”
What a wonderful blessing it is in the life of a young person to be nurtured by a mother who has a testimony of the Savior and whose words and actions leave no doubt in the power of God to deliver them from Satan.
E.T. Sullivan wrote these insightful words:
““When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home out of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.” (The Treasure Chest, p. 53.)”
Firm and Undaunted
Because of their faith in God, the stripling warriors did not falter or hesitate in fear. Even when the rest of their army, who were undoubtedly older and more seasoned in battle, were about to give way, they stood firm. Of one battle we read this account:
“But behold, my little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them.
And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:19-20). ”
To be undaunted is to be unshaken in purpose, resolutely courageous and not discouraged in the face of overwhelming odds.
These young men knew what they were to accomplish, and they were resolute in their duty. Their orders were clear: to hold their ground. A break in their line of defense could result in many more casualties. It is equally important for each of us, faced with challenges of unrivaled proportion, to stand our ground firm and undaunted. There will be many to our right and to our left who may halt or falter for a time, but as latter-day stripling warriors we must meet our challenges with undiminished courage and valor. In so doing we will give courage to those around us and turn the tide in the ongoing war with Satan and his hordes.
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
”
Obedience
On the battlefield strict obedience to instructions is important not only for personal safety but also for the safety of fellow soldiers. Returning to the account of the stripling warriors, Helaman attributed their success to their strict obedience:
“Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them” (Alma 57:21).
Exact obedience is likewise the key to success in our daily battles with Satan. We have been given clear commands from our Heavenly Father, and we have also been given specific tasks to perform. If we do them, then the ultimate outcome will be victory and eternal reward.
Being victorious is not to say that we will be unscathed or uninjured in the course of our personal battles. Even with faith, courage and strict obedience, we will still be wounded from time to time. And on occasion those wounds may even be serious.
After a great battle with the Lamanites, many warriors lay dead and dying on the field of battle. So heated was the fighting that there was not one of Helaman’s troops who did not have many wounds. He sent those of his young men who were still standing to gather his fallen sons from among the dead. There they found 200 of their young brothers who had been wounded so seriously that they had fainted from loss of blood. But to their great joy and the astonishment of the entire Nephite army, not one of Helaman’s young warriors had been killed (see Alma 57:24-26).
On occasion I have wondered about the individual relationships between these young warriors and how they must have felt and reacted as their friends were seriously wounded. What acts of selfless heroism, honor and faith took place in the midst of this horrific battle? What did these faithful, worthy priesthood holders do when the lives of their friends hung in the balance that day?
Likening the example of the stripling warriors to the modern day experience of two Latter-day Saint marines in the south pacific during World War II strengthens my testimony of the power of faith and the power of the priesthood to preserve today’s faithful young warriors.
It was just before dawn and the American soldiers awaited the signal to start the assault on a Japanese stronghold on the island of Kwajalein. At twenty minutes to six, the boats carrying the marines approached the shore. Suddenly explosions rocked the landing crafts and flames shot into the air. Dive bombers dropped their loads and machine guns savagely raked the beach.
The first wave of men who started for the shore were cut down turning the shallow waters red with blood. The two Latter-day Saint marines were hit in the first wave of gunfire and one was severely wounded. The less seriously wounded marine quickly made his way to his friend who was bobbing face down in the choppy water. With his good hand he carefully held his comrades head above water until help arrived.
Finally a United Press newspaperman and some medics found them in the water. They helped the two wounded soldiers ashore and tried to give first aid to the least injured young man, but he refused help until his buddy was checked. The rescuers resisted at first, thinking that the boy was too badly hurt to ever recover. The war correspondent wrote the rest of the story on February 8, 1944.
“Then it happened. This young man, the stronger of the two, bronzed by the tropical sun, clean as a shark’s tooth in the South Seas, slowly got to his knees. His own arm was nearly gone, but with the other, he lifted the head of his unconscious pal into his lap, placed his good hand on the other’s pale brow and uttered what to us seemed to be incredible words–words that to this moment are emblazoned in unforgettable letters across the doorway of my memory:
“In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the virtue of the holy priesthood which I hold, I command you to remain alive until the necessary help can be obtained to secure the preservation of your life.’”
The two young marines were later taken to a hospital with the newspaper reporter who concluded his story in this way:
“The three of us are here in Honolulu and today we walked down the beach together. . . . He is the wonder of the medical unit, for–they say–he should be dead. Why he isn’t they don’t know–but we do–for we were there, off the shores of Kwajalein.” (Faith Story: We Were There - Friend Aug. 1974)
As our earthly battles intensify it will become increasingly difficult to avoid being injured, even more reason to avail ourselves of priesthood blessings and the healing power of the Atonement. As with Helaman’s young warriors and the wounded marine, all those who are not as seriously injured in the spiritual battles of the latter days will be asked to go out and find those who have fainted on life’s battlefield from loss of blood (spiritually speaking) and assist in rendering first aid. They will dress their wounds and nurture them back to health by the good word of God and offer compassionate encouragement for all to be partakers in the atonement of Christ.
Elder Boyd K. Packer said,
“Now another generation of youth comes forward. We see strength in them beyond what we have seen before. Drinking and drugs and moral mischief are not a part of their lives. They band together in study of the gospel, in socials, and in service.
They are not perfect. Not yet. They are doing the best they can, and they are stronger than the generations that came before. As the Lord told Oliver Granger, ‘When [they fall they] shall rise again, for [their] sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than [their] increase’ (D&C 117:13).”
In conclusion, in speaking of the stripling warriors, Helaman wrote:
“And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.
Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.”
In the account of the stripling warriors two of the many valuable gospel principles which standout are; exact obedience and trust in God continually. Careful application of these two truths will create spiritual synergy and are key to our having the strength of God in battle.
In the midst of the ongoing spiritual war with Satan we will all be wounded from time to time. These wounds will often be the consequence of the poor exercise of free agency, personal sin or the result of poor choices made by others around us. None but the Savior lived a perfect, sinless life.
The battle lines have been drawn. We have been given clear orders, and additional instructions are continually being handed down to us by living prophets and apostles. To put on the whole armor of God we must take care not to disregard the prophetic instructions that we may not fully understand or agree with or choose to follow only those that suit us best. Failing to trust in God continually, waffling on following with strict obedience His commands issued during the heat of battle, will assuredly result in further spiritual and even physical injuries, not only to ourselves but also to those whom we love and have been given the stewardship to shepherd.
It is the atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ that heals our hearts, comforts our cares, reinforces our resolve to avoid sin, succors our souls, cleanses and enables us to stay clean, dresses and binds up our wounds, restores and rehabilitates us, lifts us from the depths of despair and warms us with renewed hope in anticipation of heavenly reunions and eternal life.
It is He, our savior and mediator, our rescuer and our redeemer, our councilor and commander who we must choose to follow into battle if we are to one day stand with the hosts of heaven and sing this joyful song:
Victory, victory,
Thru Him that redeemed us!
Victory, victory
Thru Jesus Christ our Lord!