We can rejoice in the blessings of the covenant. We can seek, like Lehi and Sariah, to guide our families in the way of truth and light. We can be consoled by the Psalm of Nephi. We can trust in our God, who has given us living prophets to guide and direct us here upon the earth. Our task is to follow them as if the words they speak were given by our Savior Himself.
“My God Hath Been My Support”
While serving as a young missionary in Germany, I recall speaking with a highly educated and very articulate older woman concerning the Book of Mormon. It was encouraging when she agreed to read the Book of Mormon, especially since we had testified of its divine source (something that not infrequently dissuaded the self-satisfied to look no further). Upon one of our return visits, I asked her for her impressions of the book. Her response was instructive. She said that she was very conversant with the Bible, especially with the poetic sections of the Old Testament, such as the Psalms, which she read regularly with much benefit. The Book of Mormon was interesting, she reported, but it contained no uplifting poetry such as she admired in the Bible.
To this we could only respond by drawing her attention to the plain and precious gospel truths contained in the Book of Mormon, often expressed with directness and clarity so that they could not be misunderstood. Although we encouraged her to continue with her reading, we could tell that she was not looking at this material in the context of scripture, but rather out of an aesthetic interest. She wanted to be lifted poetically rather than spiritually. Thus we eventually moved on to others more open to the message of the restored gospel.
Over the years I have thought about this woman, wishing that I had asked her at the time to pay particular attention to certain passages from the Book of Mormon, especially 2 Nephi Chapter 4, which contains what is often called the “Psalm of Nephi” (see 2 Nephi 4:17–35). This magnificent outpouring of Nephi’s personal witness about truth and the commitment to righteous living is a poetic testament to God’s goodness and the need of man to rise above human weakness and trust implicitly in the Lord.
While it is true that the Book of Mormon does not contain an abundance of psalmic literature such as that found in the Old Testament, it does contain many passages of unsurpassed beauty. Besides the Psalm of Nephi, one can point to Mormon’s lament concerning his grief over the demise of the great Nephite nation (see Mormon 6:16–22), beginning “And my soul was rent with anguish” (Mormon 6:16). There is also Jacob’s soaring statement that begins, “Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord” (Jacob 4:8–10), or King Limhi’s metaphoric expression about the frailties of men—“Yea, they are as a wild flock” (Mosiah 8:21), or Ammon’s extraordinary statements about the “Lord of the Harvest” (Alma 26:5–8), or Zenos’ expressive treatment about prayer (see Alma 33:3–11), or Alma on cultivating faith as a seed (see Alma 32) and his memorable admonition to his son Helaman to counsel with the Lord (see Alma 37:35–37). Such passages provide ample confirmation that prophets other than those of ancient Israel could express spiritual truth in language of power and beauty.
In the final analysis, however, it is not the words, but rather the Word, that makes the difference. It is not the beauty of language, per se, but the confirmation of the Spirit of God that prophetic utterance, being the key to repentance and salvation, can change lives for the better and draw people closer to the Master. (Richard J. Allen)