O God, the strength of those who war (Heavy Metal Version)

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"O God, the strength of those who war" is a Christian hymn written by William Boyd Carpenter (1841–1918). William was a Bishop of the Church of England and served as the Royal Chaplain to Queen Victoria (1819-1901). Published in 1918, it coincides with World War I. I used the lyrics from hymnary.org, which omit the second stanza. I wrote a bridge based on Moses raising his hands to the Lord in the fight against the Amalekites (Exodus: 17), and I wrote a chorus based on the shield, breastplate, and sword of Ephesians 6. I also modified William Boyd Carpenter's last stanza to be a variation of the chorus at the end.

I used deepai.org and midjourney (artificial intelligence) for the images (though I made some modifications by hand in affinity photo 2). I used suno.com (artificial intelligence) for the music. I used lalal.ai (artificial intelligence) to separate the music into 2 tracks so I could (human work) mix and master the song in Reaper. The video animations were created by AI through klingai.com. The video was edited in Filmora 14 (human work). Thanks to Rusty for his inspiration and help.

My Comments on Physical and Spiritual Warfare:

War is the subject of several of the songs on my channel I want to make some comments about Physical and Spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is part of life for everyone, even if they don't realize it (Ephesians 6:12). Some of the songs on my channel are about Spiritual warfare alone (e.g., Onward Christian Soldiers). Others are mostly about Spiritual warfare, such as "The son of God goes forth to war," which is about the final battle during the end times; hence is a one-time event, though it does seem to involve some physical battle. That leaves two other songs: "Fight the good Fight" and "O God, the strength of those who war." In fight the good fight, the video imagery, particularly the Demonic Knights, makes it clear I am focusing on Spiritual Battle. The quotation from Ephesians 6:12 adds further emphasis to that point. The chorus is my general call for Christians of different persuasions to put aside their differences for a while and unite to defend Christianity in what appears to be the end times.

This brings us the current song, "O God, the strength of those who war." Unlike the others, this one has a connection to soldiers in World War I, which, frankly, is a war that never should have been started. Nevertheless, it raises the topic of war in the context of Christian theology. War is a controversial topic and Christians are divided on it. There are Christian pacifists and there Christians who have defended the view that some wars are just. It is clear to me that Christ commanded us to love one another (John 13:34) and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). In his sermon on the mount, Christ said "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). As such, I think we should pray for peace and be very reluctant to go to war. However, I do believe there are some times when war is justified; the second World War would be the prime example. Hitler had to be stopped. Civilization, women, children, etc., had to be defended. I am reminded of Psalm 82: 3-4:3: "Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked" and Romans 13:3-4: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." War should be a last resort, but sometimes we have to fight. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" I think is a poignant insight (it is often attributed to Edmund Burke, but more probably comes from John Stuart Mill, who said something similar).

The Knight imagery in the video of "O God, the strength of those who war" takes into account the above insights. That is, sometimes we have to fight physically, but we always have to fight spiritually. The Christian Knight stands resolute despite the pouring rain, smoke, and fire of the battlefield. No matter what befalls us in life we must stand strong with the help of God: the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the Spirit. May this song inspire in you devotion to God and a passion to defend Him in this world. He gave His life for us; we should be willing to give our life for Him. Finally, we hope and pray for God's triumph and the peace foretold when "he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4).