Power of Sacred Music

I learned this week that the book of Psalms was like an ancient hymn book and the words were designed to be set to music. Learning this important piece of information really helped shape my understanding of the Come, Follow Me reading. Another neat thing I learned about the book of Psalms is that it is the most quoted book in the New Testament (see Bible Dictionary).

When I thought about how important the Psalms must have been to the people living during Bible times, it made me think about how important sacred music is for us as well.

How often has music been able to touch your heart and bring comfort and peace to your soul? There is a power in music that reaches us differently than the spoken word. President Nelson has said “Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end…Hymns can also help us withstand the temptations of the adversary…Worthy music also has the power to persuade...Music has a sweet power to promote unity and love in the family…Music has power to provide spiritual nourishment. It has healing power. It has the power to facilitate worship. It provides power for us to express prayerful thoughts and bear testimony of sacred truths…Music has power to overcome language barriers…Worthy music is not only a source of power but also of protection.” (The Power and Protection of Worthy Music)

For the last (almost) 10 years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been putting a greater emphasis on providing new music for the youth each year. The music is more contemporary, catchy and appealing to the youth and their families. If you haven’t tuned in yet, you are missing out! The Church is providing so many resources for families in an effort to help fortify us and our children and to help all of us get on and stay on the covenant path, and music is another one of those amazing resources! Here's a link to the new youth music website Youth Music, or you can download the app "Sacred Music" to your phone. Here's a link to one of my favorite songs "Healer" from this years youth album. Happy listening😀

Seeing God's Hand in our Lives

As I studied about the Book of Esther this week, it was interesting to me to learn from several sources that there is no mention of God in the entire book! As readers, it is up to us to look for the hand of God in her story because even though He is not mentioned by name, His works are all throughout this book. Here are some examples...

• Queen Vashti is removed from her position which makes a way for Esther to be in a position to become the next queen. (Chapter 1)
• Esther is the least decorated of all the women and yet she is still the one chosen to be the queen. (Chapter 2)
• Mordecai overhears a plot to kill the king. He tells Esther and she is able to warn the king and save his life. (Chapter 2)
• The king does not kill Esther when she comes unannounced into court. (Chapter 5)
• Esther holds back her request to the king for a few days and while waiting, feels prompted to invite he and Haman to come to a banquet with her. (Chapter 5)
• Following the banquet and the night before Haman plans to have Mordecai killed, the king is reminded about Mordecai's good deed. (Chapter 6)
• Once Haman is killed, Mordecai is appointed to take his place. Together, he and Esther are able to convince the king to reverse the decree that mandates the killing of the Jews (Chapter 8)

Do you ever feel like the presence of God is hidden in your life like He is in the book of Esther? Sometimes it takes some time looking deeply to find Him in our personal stories. 

The talk giving by Pres. Eyring entitled O Remember, Remember gives great counsel regarding how to see the hand of God in our lives. He says "the challenge to remember has always been the hardest for those who are blessed abundantly. Those who are faithful to God are protected and prospered. That comes as the result of serving God and keeping His commandments. But with those blessings comes the temptation to forget their source. It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own powers...Sadly, prosperity is not the only reason people forget God. It can also be hard to remember Him when our lives go badly. When we struggle, as so many do, in grinding poverty or when our enemies prevail against us or when sickness is not healed, the enemy of our souls can send his evil message that there is no God or that if He exists He does not care about us. Then it can be hard for the Holy Ghost to bring to our remembrance the lifetime of blessings the Lord has given us from our infancy and in the midst of our distress...My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done."

Rise Up and Build

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah introduce us to some good men who were builders in the Kingdom of God:

• Zurabbabel and Jeshua lead the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:2)
• Ezra rebuilds peoples faith by learning, living and teaching the law (Ezra 7:10)
• Nehemiah rebuilds the walls and gates of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:7)

What lessons can we learn from these stories about being a builder of the kingdom?

• expect opposition as a builder (Ezra 4:4, Nehemiah 4:8)
• surround yourself with other builders (Ezra 3:8,  Nehmemiah 2:18, Nehemiah 8:7)
• builders sacrifice things to build the kingdom of God-all these men left their homes in Babylon/Persia to return to Jerusalem (see chapter headings Ezra 1, Ezra 7-8, Nehemiah 2)

The principle of being a builder reminded me of a poem I heard some time ago titled "Am I a Builder or a Wrecker?"

I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
The men you’d hire if you had to build?”

He gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do.”

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
Which of these two roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?

                              Poem by Edgar Guest

Some good questions we can ask ourselves are...Am I a builder or a wrecker? What can I do to stop being in opposition to the building? How can I contribute to the building up of my family, ward, or community? I hope that we can all think of something we can do to emulate the lives of these great men, and the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and do our part to help build the Kingdom of God.

A Pattern for Conquering Enemies

The story that had the most impact on me this week was that of King Hezekiah and the actions that he took when his city (Jerusalem) was under attack. The Assyrian army had overtaken the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 18:9-11) and continued moving south conquering cities in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. (2 Kings 18:13). The Assyrian armies last target was the capital city of Jerusalem and Hezekiah knew they were coming for him (2 Kings 18:17-18).

Preceding the attack on Jerusalem, a group of Assyrian messengers come to the outskirts of the city and started mocking and taunting the people by saying things that might have them question their faith in their king. Things like "who do you trust?", "If you surrender, the king of Assyria will bring you gifts.", "Hezekiah is deceiving you, he doesn't have the power to save you.", "No god has saved any city from the king of Assyria, what makes you any different?" 2 Kings 18:19-35)

As Hezekiah's servants return to him and report about what is going on "outside", Hezekiah shows us a great pattern of what we can do when we find our faith or our families under attack:

1. Go to the house of the Lord (2 Kings 19:1)
2. Seek the prophets guidance (2 Kings 19:2)
3. Go back to the house of the Lord (2 Kings 19:14)
4. Pray to the Lord (2 Kings 19:15)
5. Trust in the Lord's promises (2 Kings 19:32-35)

I love this story that Pres. Nelson told about a mother who followed these steps when she found her son under enemy attack. He states, "In our worldwide youth devotional last June, I spoke about a young man whose life changed when his parents exchanged his smartphone for a flip phone. This young man’s mother is a fearless woman of faith. She saw her son drifting toward choices that could prevent him from serving a mission. She took her pleadings to the temple to know how best to help her son. Then she followed through with every impression. She said: “I felt the Spirit guiding me to check my son’s phone at specific times to catch specific things. I don’t know how to navigate these smartphones, but the Spirit guided me through all the social media that I don’t even use! I know the Spirit helps parents who are seeking guidance to protect their children." (Sisters' Participation in the Gathering of Israel)

We all have to decide what voice we’re going to listen to and who’s voice we're going to trust. The enemy has a very powerful and persuasive voice. But our prophet, Pres. Nelson has said that as we spend time in the temple we will be better able to hear the voice of the Lord (Hear Him), and His voice will provide us with the inspiration that we need to conquer our enemies.

Spiritual Lessons found in the Miracles of Elisha

In the Come, Follow Me manual this week, one of the suggestions was to study the miracles of Elisha found in 2 Kings 2-6 and ponder the spiritual lessons we can learn from those miracles. Here's what I learned from my studies of these miracles:

When we follow the prophet and allow the Lord to be part of our lives, then...

• Miracles will happen (woman of Shunem, 2 Kings 4:14-17)
• Dead things can be brought back to life (boy-2 Kings 4:35; soup-4:40-41)
• We will always have access to Living Water (ditches-2 Kings 2:16-20)
• We are blessed in unexpected ways to conquer our enemies (Moabite army-2 Kings 2:21-24)
• We are given protection from the enemy (Syrian army-2 Kings 6:12)
• Our insufficiencies will be made sufficient (oil-2 Kings 4:1-7, bread-2 Kings 4:42-44)
• Lost things will be found (ax head-2 Kings 6:5-7)
• Healing will occur (water-2 Kings 2:19-22 Naaman-2 Kings 5:1-14)
• Eyes will be opened, perspectives widened, vision enhanced (heavenly armies-2 Kings 6:17)

I also noticed that these miracles were seen in all demographics of people: wealthy and destitute, believer and non-believer, adults and children, male and female. "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34) and is eager and willing to bless us with miracles in our lives. In April 2022 General Conference, Pres. Nelson said "the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, 'doubting nothing.' Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith. I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ 'giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.'" 

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.