The author of Psalm 71 observed that his adversaries saw him as weak. “Mine enemies speak against me…saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him” (Psalm 71:10-11). But he expressed confidence that this was not true: “I will go in the strength of the Lord God,” he said (Psalm 71:16).
When Zeniff and his people were attacked by “a numerous host of Lamanites,” they grabbed every weapon available, including “all manner of weapons which [they] could invent” (Mosiah 9:16). They had not expected this, and they were not prepared physically to defend themselves, but they were prepared spiritually:
in the strength of the Lord did we go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers.
And God did hear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might.
Mosiah 9:17-18
Twenty-two years later, the Lamanites attacked again. Once again, Zeniff’s people were outnumbered, but this time they were much better prepared. They had a large supply of weapons. They had sentinels and spies to ensure that they were well-informed. (See Mosiah 10:1-2, 7.) But once again, Zeniff attributes their victory to their spiritual preparation:
We did go up in the strength of the Lord to battle.
I did stimulate them to go to battle with their might, putting their trust in the Lord.
And it came to pass that we did drive them again out of our land.
Mosiah 10:10, 19-20
Zeniff specifically contrasts his people’s faith with the Lamanites’ reliance on their own abilities:
Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength.
Mosiah 10:11
Unfortunately, after Zeniff’s death, his people fell into the same trap, “[boasting] in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 11:19). As a result, they were conquered. (See Mosiah 19:6-15, 25-29.)
Mormon later attributed the weakening of the Nephite army under Moronihah to this same failure: “Because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper” (Helaman 4:13).
Elder David A. Bednar taught:
The Atonement is not only for people who have done bad things and are trying to be good. It is for good people who are trying to become better and serve faithfully and who yearn for an ongoing and mighty change of heart. Indeed, “in the strength of the Lord” (Mosiah 9:17) we can do and overcome all things.
“In the Strength of the Lord,” Brigham Young University Devotional Address, 23 October 2001
Today, I will seek for God’s enabling power as I fulfill my responsibilities and pursue my goals. I will remember that my own capabilities are limited and that His power is infinite. Rather than rely on my own strength, I will strive to do my work “in the strength of the Lord.”