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1 Samuel 13:1-14:52

There Is No Restraint to the LORD

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There Is No Restraint to the LORD

1 Samuel 13:1-14:52

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There Is No Restraint to the LORD

1 Samuel 13:1-14:52

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About this song

This song belongs to the 1 Samuel collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
1 Samuel
Collection
1 Samuel
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[Verse 1] Saul selects a standing force, and Jonathan strikes the Philistine garrison at Geba. Israelites hide in caves, pits, rocks, and across Jordan as danger rises. Saul offers the burnt offering himself just before Samuel arrives. The Philistines divide raiding companies while Israel lacks weapons and smiths. [Pre-Chorus] The line drew close, the watch was nearly done, Then courage rose before the rising sun. [Chorus] There Is No Restraint to the LORD, let the trumpet answer clear, Not by number, not by sword, not by fear. The faithful moved where the battle line was drawn, And the purpose of the LORD kept moving on. [Verse 2] The Philistines' challenge becomes the sign that God has delivered them. Jonathan climbs on hands and feet and strikes the first twenty men. Trembling spreads through camp and field as the earth quakes. Formerly hidden Israelites rally and join the pursuit. [Bridge] Jonathan tastes honey without hearing the oath and regains strength. The famished people later fall upon spoil and eat with the blood. The lot identifies Jonathan, and Saul sentences him to death. The people rescue Jonathan, while Saul continues wars and builds his royal house. [Final Chorus] There Is No Restraint to the LORD, let the trumpet answer clear, Not by number, not by sword, not by fear. The faithful moved where the battle line was drawn, And the purpose of the LORD would still move on. [Outro] The field grew still; the record kept the name. Courage passed onward through the fading flame.

Named in this songSaulJonathanJordanSamuel

About the passage

1 Samuel 13: An offering made before the waiting is over

Renewed Philistine pressure places Saul in a crisis that is both real and revealing. Jonathan's attack draws a massive response, Israelites hide or cross the Jordan, and those who remain with Saul are trembling. The Book of 1 Samuel does not make the danger imaginary in order to explain Saul's failure. At Gilgal he waits through the stated interval, watches his force scatter, and then offers the burnt offering before Samuel arrives. Samuel appears almost immediately and identifies the issue as a command not kept. The announced consequence concerns the future of Saul's kingdom, not an instant removal from command. The chapter then returns to military reality with brutal clarity: Philistine raiders move freely, Israel depends on enemy smiths even for tools, and only Saul and Jonathan are reported with sword and spear.

Study 1 Samuel 13 in depth

1 Samuel 14: Jonathan opens a battle that Saul nearly closes against him

Jonathan breaks the military stalemate with one armourbearer and a conviction carefully phrased as possibility: the LORD can save by many or by few. His attack becomes the opening through which a much larger Philistine collapse occurs, and the Book of 1 Samuel credits the day's salvation to the LORD. Saul then creates a second crisis inside the victorious army by binding hungry soldiers under an oath not to eat until evening. Jonathan, who never heard the command, tastes honey and later becomes the target of his father's death sentence when divine inquiry falls silent. The people refuse that sentence and rescue the man who helped rescue them. The chapter closes by refusing a simple portrait of Saul. It records real victories, a functioning royal household, and effective military leadership alongside an oath that weakened his own army and nearly killed his son.

Study 1 Samuel 14 in depth