Psalms- trusting Jesus, working through the incongruences of our lives
What was it about the situation(s) that David faced that caused him to write the Psalms? In other words, what circumstances led David to make these statements?
-chased by his Father-in-law Saul
-surrounded by enemies much of his life
-hunted by his supposed friends
-his own son was slain- Absalom- by Joab & company
How are we like David? What are some of the issues/incongruences in our lives where we need to trust Jesus? If everything was working out, then why would we need to trust Him?
David-Shepherd-King
Nephi-King
Joseph Smith- temples
-Nephi -2Nephi 4
-Enoch
-Joseph Smith
We all have captivities, times when we really need to trust Jesus to pull us out of the problems/messes of our lives.
Captivities: 2 Nephi 2:27-28 – act & not be acted upon 2 Nephi 2:14 – the principle- God sometimes places or allows us to be placed in situations where we need to act and not be acted upon. Sometimes what may seem unfair is actually an event used to prepare us for a future situation where the experience we are currently gaining will be a benefit to us or to others.
What are some of our captivities/incongruencies?
The class listed health problems, raising children & the worries associated with that endeavor, moving to a far away city and not knowing anyone or how things would turn out.
Principles associated with trusting Him
Principle1: The more you do- the more strength you receive
Principle2: Do all you can & don’t just expect it to happen
Illustration– Oliver and the plates- don’t just suppose you can translate because you ask- D&C 8/9
Principle3: If you wait for everything to be in place to do His will, you’ll end up waiting a long time
Illustration 1: temple- go build it- D&C 101. Don’t wait for the right circumstances- go and do what you are asked, and as you bring what you can bring to the table, a way is made open for you to be successful.
Illustration 2: schooling- for many of us, the money was not always there, but through determination and effort, a way was made open by the grace of God to complete the task at hand.
Illustration 3: children/marriage- we live in a world where it is difficult and apparently not reasonable to raise children, yet that is exactly what the Lord wants us to do. By doing His will His way, barriers are removed and all things are made possible. An excellent illustration of God removing barriers from our lives is in the parting of the Red Sea. Often times God uses extreme examples in the scriptures to illustrate that everything under that extreme example is covered. Just as He parted the Red Sea, He can make you sufficient to accomplish whatever task He has placed in your life.
Illustration 4: Saints coming to this desolate land- all the experts were right, you couldn’t grow anything here- but with the Lord’s help, the Saints made it work out. Brigham Young explains how the experts were right, that the Great Basin could not support life. This supposed inconsistency is one of the ways the Lord tests His people. He puts us in situations where our faith is stretched, and in so doing, our faith in Him is increased as well as our assurance that our future faith will be validated.
During the trek, Brigham’s company had a number of interesting visitors. Moses “Black” Harris, who had lived nearly a quarter of a century west of the Rockies, was not optimistic about the possibilities of the Great Basin. Jim Bridger, the famed “Mountain Man,” didn’t seem to think that grain could be grown there, stating a bit flamboyantly that he would give a thousand dollars for the first bushel of corn grown in the Great Basin. On the heels of these visitors came Samuel Brannan, whom Brigham had sent to colonize California. He and two companions had come overland from San Francisco, and it was his intent to persuade Brigham to settle the Saints in the favorable climate of the coast. In California, all things seemed possible and promise seemed to whisper in the very breath of the ocean-blessed air.
Brigham had other, more crucial considerations in mind:
I do not wish men to understand that I had anything to do with our being moved here, that was the providence of the Almighty. It was the power of God that wrought out salvation for this people, I never could have devised such a plan . . . We had to have faith to come here. When we met Mr. Bridger on the Big Sandy River, said he, “Mr. Young, I would give a thousand dollars if I knew an ear of corn could be ripened in the Great Basin.” Said I, “Wait eighteen months and I will show you many of them.” Did I say this from knowledge? No, it was my faith . . . . Why did we not go to San Francisco? Because the Lord told me not: “For there are lions in the way, and they will devour the lambs, if you take them there. (Susan Evans McCloud, Brigham Young, A Personal Portrait [American Fork, Ut.: Covenant Communications, 1996], see also John A. Widtsoe, Discourses of Brigham Young (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,1954), p. 481-82.
Not trusting Jesus
Circumstance 1 (C1): David & Bathsheba
C2: Joseph Smith: 116 pages
C3: Saul: not following counsel
C4: Tell no man- obedience to the Father. What to do when Jesus tells you not to tell anyone about a miracle he has performed?
Matthew 9:31. There are some who have admired their disobedience, and have attributed it to the enthusiasm of gratitude and admiration. But was it not rather the enthusiasm of a blatant wonder, the vulgarity of a chattering boast? Did not the holy fire of devotion which a hallowed silence must have kept alive upon the altar of their hearts die away in the mere blaze of empty rumour? Did not He know best? Would not obedience have been better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams? Yes. It is possible to deceive ourselves; it is possible to offer to Christ a seeming service which disobeys His inmost precepts—to grieve Him, under the guise of honouring Him, by vain repetitions, and empty genuflexions, and bitter intolerance, and irreverent familiarity, and the hollow simulacrum of a dead devotion. Better, far better, to serve Him by doing the things He said than by a seeming zeal, often false in exact proportion to its obtrusiveness, for the glory of His name. These disobedient babblers, who talked so much of Him, did but offer Him the dishonouring service of a double heart; their violation of His commandment served only to hinder His usefulness, to trouble His spirit, and to precipitate His death (Frederick Farrar, The Life of Christ. London: Cassel & Co., Ltd., 1874. Ch. 25, 278).
Much of the message of the Psalms is of trusting in the Lord.
“Trust in the Lord” is one of the most common admonitions in the book of Psalms (Psalm 4:5; 5:11; 9:10; 18:2; 56:11; 62:8; 118:8–9). How do we place our trust in the Lord? How have you been blessed as you have trusted him? While this question is in the manual, we explored the ways this is illustrated and why the Lord places us in situations where we need to trust Him.