Three Kings

Over the last two weeks of Come, Follow Me study we've witnessed the rise and fall of kings that were all faithful enough to be chosen by God but sadly lost favor in the sight of God because of their poor choices. What really caught my attention in these books is that three kings in a row followed this same pattern! Which means these stories can be understood as cautionary tales for each of us. As I read through each of the three kings' stories, I tried to determine what temptations got ahold of each of their hearts. This is what I found...

Saul's downfall was his pride. We first see this in 1 Samuel 13 when he acts in place of Samuel as the priest in offering up a burnt offering. Then in 1 Samuel 15 instead of destroying the Amalekite herds like he's been commanded to do, he keeps the best animals. After David slays Goliath, Saul becomes jealous that the people are honoring David and not him (1 Samuel 18). From that point on, Saul seeks to kill David (1 Samuel 19)

David's downfall was his lust of the flesh. 2 Samuel 11 tells of David committing adultery with Bath-sheba, and instead of confessing and repenting of his sin, he tries to cover his sin by committing another sin, that of premeditated murder when he arranges for the death of Bath-sheba's husband.

Solomon's downfall was his desire for power. 1 Kings 11 talks about how Solomon's many marriages outside of Israel turned his heart from worshipping God to worshipping false idols. The Lord advised against these marriages, but Solomon went against the Lord because he knew that these marriages would provide alliances with others kingdoms.

In the podcast Unshaken Saints, the host talked about how these temptations parallel the same three temptations that Satan used on Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 4. Turning stones into bread (appealing to the lusts of the flesh); Cast thyself off the top of the temple (appealing to pride); Worship me and receive kingdoms and glory (appealing to power). 

If these are the top three temptations Satan used on Christ, and we see them playing a role in the downfall of these three great kings, then it's a pretty safe bet that Satan is going to use them on us as well. But the good news is, is that it's not a sin to tempted! We know Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and that was possible because he didn't give in to temptation. In the June 2022 Liahona magazine, one of the articles entitled "How we can Overcome a Lust-Filled World" states "Sin occurs when we choose to entertain, cultivate, or act on the temptation to do something we know we shouldn't. Because of moral agency, we can choose not to act on temptation, even when it's difficult."

The lesson for me is this: We can never reach a point in our lives where we think "I've made it! My testimony is strong enough and I will never fall away." We have to continually work and put forth the effort to strengthen our testimonies and rely on the Lord for his guidance, direction, and help.

Hearing the voice of the Lord

While studying the first Book of Samuel these past two weeks, the story that left the biggest impression on me was Samuel's call to be a prophet (Chapter 3). Samuel's story helps us understand some ways that will prepare us to hear the voice of the Lord.

• Spend time in sacred places-when the Lord spoke to Samuel, he was in the temple. Pres. Nelson has said "I promise that as you increase your time in the temple...you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him." (Hear Him). Other sacred places can be in our homes, churches, and even in nature.
• Quiet time-the voice of the Lord spoke to Samuel in the middle of the night, a time when it's quiet and there are no distractions. If we're going to be able to hear the still, small voice of the Lord (1 Nephi 17:25) then we need to create quiet times/spaces in our lives that are conducive to hearing His voice.
• Follow counsel of leaders-at first, Samuel doesn't recognize it’s the Lord’s voice speaking to him, so he asks Eli for help (his parent figure/priesthood leader). We need to pay attention to the words of our leaders. Pres. Nelson has said "we hear Him as we heed the words of prophets, seers, and revelators." (Hear Him)

President Nelson has said “It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now.” (Hear Him) As we try to follow the counsel of our prophet, we can look to Samuel’s story as an example of ways to help us create an environment where we can more easily hear the voice of the Lord. 

Israelites fall vs. Pioneers success

In Joshua’s last sermon to the Israelites, he implored the people to make a consistent effort to choose to serve the Lord every single day (Joshua 24:15), and the Israelites responded by making a covenant that they would serve and obey the God of Israel (Joshua 24: 23-25). 

In the book of Judges we watch the Israelites struggle to keep this covenant to serve the Lord. After all the miracles they’ve witnessed (and their parents witnessed), why was it so hard for them to stay faithful?

As I was on a youth pioneer trek this past week I remembered a lesson I heard recently contrasting the Israelites journey to the promised land with the pioneers westward migration:

• The Israelites had the Red Sea and Jordan River parted for them so they could walk through on dry ground. The pioneers had many river crossings-none of them on dry ground.
• The Israelites were given manna from heaven to eat. The pioneers had very little food and many starved to death.
• The Israelites clothes never wore out. The pioneers suffered greatly and often froze to death or left bloody footprints on the ground because their clothes and shoes were so worn out.
• The land of Canaan was already “flowing with milk and honey” for the children of Israel. The Salt Lake Valley was a barren desert that would need lots of work to make it “blossom as a rose.”

These two exodus stories that differed so much also resulted in two very different outcomes. The Israelites struggled to stay faithful to the covenants they had made to the Lord (see the whole book of Judges), but the pioneers remained faithful and because of their faithfulness many generations have remained faithful as well. The lesson I learned from this comparison is that the more we have to work for something, the more we're going to appreciate it (like our testimonies). Pres. Nelson recently spoke to the young adults of the church and said "I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth...As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life." The pioneers witnessed different miracles than the Israelites did, but the biggest miracle was their deep conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ that came through their daily effort and sacrifice to trust in the Lord and follow His chosen prophet.

Gleaning

In Chapter 2 of the Book of Ruth we read about how Ruth was able to gather food in order for her and her mother-in-law, Naomi, to physically survive.  "And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field...and her hap (good fortune) was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was...kindred." (v. 3)

What spiritual lessons can we apply from this part of Ruth's story? One institute teacher I listened to this week (Jared Halverson, Unshaken Saints Podcast) talked about looking at the word glean and thinking about what kind of "fields" we choose to glean from each day? And are we gleaning any spiritual nourishment from those "fields?" Who do we choose as friends and mentors? Are we intentionally and wisely choosing who we learn (glean) from? Do we glean from the fields of prophets, seers and revelators? Do we glean from the scriptures and other amazing minds that help enlighten our own? Are we careful about what fields we glean in? The grain that you're gathering every day will have an affect on your spirit, your ideology and your world views - You are what you eat! 

Pres. Nelson recently said "If most of the information you get comes from social or other media, your ability to hear the whisperings of the Spirit will be diminished. If you are not also seeking the Lord through daily prayer and gospel study, you leave yourself vulnerable to philosophies that may be intriguing but are not true. Even Saints who are otherwise faithful can be derailed by the steady beat of Babylon’s band...I pleas with you today to counter the lure of the world by making time for the Lord in your life--each and every day." (Make Time for the Lord)