WISDOM OF THE UNWISE PART 1

 

King Solomon by Pam Wenger

Solomon, the king who continued the golden age of Israel begun by his father David, was the third king who proved Jehovah right when he warned the people through Samuel that they should not be governed by kings. Solomon reigned over Israel in extravagance and grandeur which lasted for 40 years. This is all it took to destroy Israel's course forever.

 

Solomon, like his predecessors, loved the God of Israel and at the beginning of his reign covenanted with Him that he would walk in obedience throughout his administration but like his father, he lacked the tenacity that could enable him to endure to the end. Blessed with incredible wisdom that exceeded that of any man, he ended up being a man of foolishness. A man blessed with riches that far exceeded the riches of any man or king, sent Israel into temporal and spiritual bankruptcy. Within a year of his death, the land was divided into two kingdoms and the course of Israel's history was altered permanently (Old Testament Student Manual, Vol 2, p. 1)

 

Solomon excelled in two things: wisdom and riches. He ascended the throne at 20 years of age, reigning with his father as co-regent until David's death (1 Kings 1). His young age, inexperience and inherited responsibility weighed heavily on his mind as is evidenced in his conversation with the Lord at Gibeon where he went to offer sacrifices. The sacrifices which he offered to the God of Israel were excessive in number and are indicative of the great love he had for the Lord (1 Kings 3:3,4).

 

Even in the beginning Solomon did things in a big way, offering 1,000 burnt offerings upon Gibeon's sacrificial altar. It was in this place of his great devotion that the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him that whatever he wanted, the Lord would give it to him. This, more than anything, shows how much Jehovah was willing to help the kings of Israel succeed. Solomon remembering the great responsibility that rested on his shoulders asked for wisdom that he might judge Israel in righteousness (1 Kings 3:9).

 

He acknowledged the true King of Israel and lowered himself down to be nothing more than His servant by saying: "And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude" (1 Kings 3:8). He never referred to Israel as his people or his subjects. In one fell swoop he showed humility and acknowledged the God of Israel as his sovereign. This was a great beginning indeed.

 

Following such a demonstration of humility, God granted Solomon his wish making him the wisest man that has ever lived and also promised him riches and honour which would make him a king with no equal (1 Kings 3:12,13). All God's promises to Solomon were realised. He became a man unrivalled by any upon the face of the earth and for many years Solomon blessed the lives of his people. He successfully arbitrated difficult issues (1 Kings 3), built up peaceful relations with surrounding nations (1 Kings 5), attended to the thronging guests from every quarter of the earth who sought out his wisdom (1 Kings 4:10) and oversaw the establishment of Israel's first permanent temple (1 Kings 5:8). Not only was Israel great in the eyes of other nations during Solomon's reign, it stood as a monument to the power of the true and living God as was expressed by the Queen of Sheba who came to witness its' fame and the fame of its' king (1 Kings 10:9).

 

Solomon judged Israel in righteousness and with exceeding wisdom. He is credited with 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). The fame of his wisdom reached so far and wide that 'there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth....' (1Kings 4:34)

 

Of all Solomon's achievements, the greatest was the building of the temple which the Lord promised David would be built by his son after him and to whom He gave explicit instructions, through revelation, for its' construction. Solomon built a splendid temple with the finest materials and dedicated it himself through an amazing dedicatory prayer once again affirming his devotion to the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:23-53).

 

The temple was indeed magnificent, adorned with fine materials such as gold which was worth 108,000 talents, estimated to be millions of dollars in today’s currency but in reality it was about the same size as the modern mini-temples of our day (1 Kings 6). It took 7 years to build but Solomon’s house took 13 years (1 Kings 6:38; 7:1)…..and so the cracks began to appear…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

REFLECTION IN MY SOUL

 

Divine Redeemer by Simon Dewey

The day You climbed that fateful hill

And embraced the pain of Calvary

You freed us from this world of sin

And from every agony.

 

How noble, how enduring

How strong You must have been

To fight my soul’s enemy

In the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

I give You my heart

I give You my all

To one day see Your

Reflection in my soul.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN

ARMIES OF HEAVEN

 

“If evil spirits could come to me, cannot ministering spirits and angels also come from God? Of course they can, and…they can rush as an army going to battle…That is the God whom I serve, one who has millions of angels at His command…We do not see them, but they are here watching us….The Lord has hosts of angels who are qualified to defend us, and they have information enough to march armies and to select leaders to lead them against the enemy of the Saints.” (Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 3:229-30)

President Heber C. Kimball and his wife Vilate Kimball were awakened by their neighbor on the night of September 22, 1827, to witness such an army in the sky:

“It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear we could see to pick up a pin. We saw a bow form in the sky and it grew wide enough to contain twelve men abreast. In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west. They continued marching until they reached the western horizon. They moved in platoons and walked so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers…..

“We….could discern the form and features of the men. The most profound order existed throughout the entire army. When the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time. I could hear their steps. When the front rank reached the western horizon, a battle ensued, as we could hear the report of the arms, and the rush.

“No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon for hours, until it began to disappear.

“After I became acquainted with Mormonism, I learned that this took place the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni, who had held those records in his possession. “There were other witnesses to this event, and “the next night similar scenery was beheld in the west, by the neighbors, representing armies of men who were engaged in battle.”   (Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 15-17; see also McConkie, Angels, 100; Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 107-9)

 

Angels, are you near me

To catch me if I fall?

Do you stand guard at the entrance

Of my heart

On God’s errand and sentinel’s call?

 

Do you pave the way

And steady my feet,

And ensure my enemy’s defeat?

 

You are unsung heroes

Of every journey’s flight

You are phantoms of love

Concealed from mortal sight.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

FAMILY TREE OF LOVE

 

We have spread our wings

Like birds in flight

In this world far and wide;

Yet our hearts will nest

In branches seeking the sky above

Forever and ever

United together on the family tree of love.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art Unknown)

OF GENERATIONS

 

I remember hearing a story years ago about a woman who had the habit of cutting off the end of the leg of lamb before baking. When she was asked why she did that she said her mother always did it so she thought that was the right way to bake lamb. When the mother was questioned she said her mother always did it so she thought that it should be done. When the grandmother was questioned she said she didn’t have a roasting pan big enough so she had to cut off the end of the leg. The things we pass on stays in us…..

I have many times recognized things about me that were intergenerational beliefs, attitudes and programming. Many of my European inclinations and characteristics became quite obvious in contrast to the western society norm when my family moved to Australia. I had to change some things about myself to fit into my new environment.

While I was growing up in Croatia, I was very aware of the animosity that existed between the Croats and Serbs. I am sure it went back to the land somehow but nobody of my generation or even my parents’ generation understood why exactly we weren’t supposed to like each other. Even though my parents didn’t fully understand, they were, nevertheless, quick to promote their disdain because it was expected.

We are very much the sum of those who went before us…..the generations whose blood runs in our veins. We are the inheritors of their personalities and characteristics, good or bad. On a personal level, I remember seeing my mother more than once in tears saying: “God created me to suffer.”  And yes I have focused on a lot of my suffering in life because of that. Like mother, like daughter. I also picked up her propensity to criticize others. To this day I am vigilant about this flaw.

I come from generations of poor peasants who lived under the feudal system and then under socialism. My paternal grandmother had six children. When one of them died in infancy she said: “Well, that’s one less mouth to feed.” I never saw this grandmother smile in my whole life. The generations of poverty mentality, likewise, has followed me around for most of my life. Not that I am rich now, but I no longer care.

There are a number of places in the scriptures where God says: “I will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (see Deut 5:9,10; Exodus 20:5,6). It puzzled me why the children would have to be punished because of the sins of their fathers. I came to realise with time that hate very much gets passed down from generation to generation. It begins with someone but never ends with them and it evolves into a serious sin. A classical example is the Middle East.

Generational flaws and sins can end with any generation and this is how. When we are born into this world, we take upon ourselves our father’s name. When we are spiritually born through baptism, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. We become CHRISTians. King Benjamin explained this means that we become ‘the children of Christ’. He mentions the importance of having Christ’s name 11 times in 6 verses of Mosiah 5 (V 7-12). Why is this important? Because, just as we are genetically predisposed to inherit physical and mental traits of our earthly fathers, so we, when we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, and live his teachings, inherit His spiritual qualities. In other words, we become like Him by the virtue of our newly acquired parental bond (Moroni 7:48). This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘you’re just like your father’, does it not???

I know love existed in the generations of my family. Europeans are passionate people. I have inherited that quality from them. I think deeply and I feel deeply. The memory of them ties me to my homeland. I look forward to meeting those whose names I only know on paper, when I pass on to next life. I want to shower them with love and bring them to God who has given me meaning and understanding of my humanity. I want to resolve their long-held prejudices that have robbed them of their potential. I want to tell them they were not born to suffer.

 

Your life has come and gone

But your footprints remain

And your blood courses through my veins.

I know your smile and your frown

Though we have never met.

They are worn by my children

As gems in family diadem;

You are the root

That reaches the branches,

I am the stem that paves the way.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art Unknown)

ALWAYS THERE

 

I marvel as You lead me over mountains

and over vales;

And when I often fall,

You soothe away my pains.

I marvel at Thy patience,

I marvel at Thy love,

I marvel at Thy faith in me

And what I can become.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A JUST GOD

 

Forgiven by Thomas Blackshear

On Judgment Day, the balance between justice and mercy will be so perfect that we will not be able to question it. This is the greatest lesson I learnt from David of the Old Testament.

I can think of no one who would have wept more when David forfeited his exaltation than the Saviour himself. To lose someone with so much promise and faithfulness would have been agonizing to Him. As a youth, he was said to be a man after the Lord’s “own heart” (1 Sam 13:14) and as a man, he spoke by the Spirit and had many revelations (see Guide to the Scriptures: David)

If there was anyone the Saviour could have been excessively merciful to, it would have been David but where would that have left Uriah, a man of principle and loyalty, and his innocent blood that was spilt? The man who had no say….whose wife was taken from him, who suffered an unjust death???  One truth remains….mercy cannot rob justice (Alma 42:25).

I saw the perfect nature of the God that we worship and trust through this story.  He knows all: our hearts, our capabilities, our intents, our weaknesses, our pains, our desires, our sufferings…. everything that could induce mercy….but yet He obeys all the laws that He himself is governed by. Because He is the giver of law and the sustainer of law, it is impossible for Him to violate law, including the law of justice (see Discourses of Brigham Young p1, Mormon Doctrine p 432-3, Mediation and Atonement p 168).

So  a king who was destined for exaltation fell from God’s grace and became an example of the perfect balance of justice and mercy. The justice was the loss of exaltation but the mercy was the gift of resurrection to all the human family including those who commit murder and inherit a much lesser kingdom of glory which, nevertheless, surpasses all understanding (D&C 132:38,39; D&C 76:89). David’s repentance and godly sorrow led to his gratefulness that the Saviour will not leave his soul in hell (Psalms 16:10; Acts 2:27; Acts 2:25-28; 13:22-37; Isaiah 55:3). This hope of resurrection of the unjust is known as ‘the sure mercies of David’ (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 272).

The Psalms of David, who ‘foresaw the Lord always before his face’, are heart wrenching evidence of his unfailing love and praise of Jehovah (Acts 2:25). Even though he committed a grievous sin, he never turned away from the God of Israel. May we follow suit when sin finds us and turn to Him who can forgive and yet rescue our souls from everlasting misery and may we harbour in our heart David’s testimony forever: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn (strength, power) of my salvation….” (Psalms 18:2).

He is the one and only giver of mercy, forgiveness and salvation and there is none else….not in heaven above, or earth beneath…..nothing, nobody, nowhere…..(Deuteronomy 4:35,39;5:8 ;Isaiah 43:10-11; 45:5,6,14,18,22; 46:9; D&C 76:1; 2 Nephi 25:20; 31:21; Moses 6:52)

 

Will You come and carry me

When all my strength is gone?

Will Your mercy spill from You

When I can walk no more?

 

Will Your mercy lift me higher

To glimpse my eternal home?

Will I see my soul there

Before Your gilded throne?

 

When the sum of my life is done

Will You bring me home to keep?

I’ll want to kneel and honour You

Before Your Mercy Seat.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

AND THE ANGELS SING

Angels by Wendy Keller

I pleaded with you,

In the beginning,

To bring me home again to Thee.

I promised to heed every call,

To avoid every danger,

To abhor every sin.

 

I have laboured, Father,

to bring joy to Thee

and To be worthy

Of Your love for me.

 

When my time comes,

I will come home to Thee

and I will wait

 at heaven’s door knocking

Until I hear the angels sing.

 

-      Cathryne Allen 

 

THE POWER OF CONSEQUENCES

 

In the words of C.S. Lewis: “The heart can and should obey the head”. David, the King of Israel is concrete proof of these words.

There comes a time when we rise to the top and get too comfortable….Instead of being in battle with his troops, David was idling on the roof of his house watching a woman of great beauty washing herself (2 Samuel 10:2). From the wrong place at the wrong time ensued an adulterous affair which led to murder.

We tend to only see the tragedy of David in this story and forget there was a woman embroiled in his sin. David did not spiritually destroy just one person. I often wonder about the woman in this equation. She was a subject of David’s kingdom. Did she have a say in whether she followed him into sin? Was she subjected to his command and had no say? Did she try to dissuade him? Did she love her husband and went against that love because David was king and had the power to command? Whichever was the truth, he was the king and she was the subject. He was in charge.  And what about the husband who lost his life because David’s heart did not obey his head?

And this makes it even worse….. David had many wives and concubines which were given to him of the Lord by the hand of Nathan, the prophet. It is Nathan who was sent to prick David's conscience regarding the one wife that was not given to him of God and which 'displeased the Lord' (2 Sam 11:27). It was Jehovah through Nathan, his servant, that brought David to his knees.

 

Nathan recounted a parable to David in these words:  "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared his own flock and his own herd to prepare a meal for the wayfaring man but took the poor man's lamb instead and dressed it for a meal for the man that was come to him” (2 Sam 12:2-4).

 

Perhaps the most sombre words spoken to anyone in the scriptures were Nathan's words to David as he responded to his outrage about the rich man who took the poor man's lamb and prepared it as a meal to a weary traveller whilst sparing so many lambs that he owned. At David's insistence that the man should be put to death for such a selfish act, Nathan's response to him cut deep as he said: "Thou art the man" (2 Sam 12:7).

 

Nathan then continued to recount all that the God of Israel had done for David, pointing out his gross sin of murder and prophesying all the calamities that would befall him. He would not be put to death as the law required but he was given a worse punishment than that. The child born to David and Bathsheeba died and David lived to see many of his wives and sons turn against him and much of his household turn to infighting and blood.

Such is the reward of sin…..devastation and destruction….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: David by Harry Ahn)

KAHLIL GIBRAN ON PAIN

The Master Potter by Paige Payne

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your 

understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart 

may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily

miracles of your life,

your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, 

even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters

of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you

heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in

silence and tranquility;

For his hand, though heavy and hard,

is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been

fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His

own sacred tears.

- Kahlil Gibran

 

A FALL FROM GRACE

 

The year I studied David’s story for the first time, I was as devastated with his fall from grace as much as I was enthralled by the Israelite boy who slew a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17:34-36) and ‘the uncircumcised Philistine who dared to defy the armies of the living God’  because  ‘there was a cause in Israel’ (1 Samuel 17:26,29). His Israelite blood coursing through his veins with valour and warrior spirit won my heart. I considered him one of the inspirational voices of the Old Testament as I followed his rise from the heroic Israelite boy to the king of the golden age of Israel.

David’s achievements impressed me but his psalms blew me away. His words appealed to the poet in me. I was enchanted by the depth of his soulful worship of Jehovah and the national sovereignty of Israel that was so closely knit with his heart. However, I learnt much from David and his humanity. He showed very well that no matter how high you climb, the ground beneath your feet is never 100% steady. In this life of uncertainty, if we are not alert enough, we will likely one day fall. The worst of it is when the fall costs you your exaltation.

Despite all his great accomplishments David made one very big error of judgment. He became very comfortable as a monarch of a successful kingdom. This comfort zone became detrimental to his ability to endure to the end. As his kingdom ran like a well-oiled machine, his approach to his kingly duties became somewhat lax. "At the time when kings go forth to battle" (2 Sam 11:1) David chose to send Joab and all Israel to fight Ammonites while he remained in Jerusalem, strolling upon the roof of his house to cool off in the heat of the night.

 

This was David's first and big mistake that began his gradual demise into depths of sin from which he could not extricate himself. Sin seldom happens in one giant leap. As Elder Boyd K. Packer says: "I don't think anyone steps off a precipice into the depths of immorality and apostasy. They slide down the slippery sides of the chasm...." (Improvement Era. May 1970, p. 7)  

 

It would seem that David didn't think he needed his armour of God on such a hot night while he was lounging and relaxing away from battle but the adversary doesn't take sabbaticals and he took advantage of David's lack of protection. David spotted a temptation bigger than the Goliath he slew so valiantly some years prior. Not turning away once he happened to see a woman washing herself his gaze lingered enough to discover she was beautiful. Not content with leaving it there, he inquired about her. This should have stopped him in his tracks for the reply he got was that her name was Bathsheba (which means "daughter of the covenant") and that she was married to a man called Uriah (which means "Jehovah is my light").

 

The adultery that happened next was tragic but what happened after it was devastating. David dared to believe that he could conceal his sin, not just from Israel but from God. As he devised one plan after another to cover his sin, he developed a treacherous character that led him to the loss of his salvation. When he failed to entice Uriah to spend time with his wife so that the conceived child could be passed off as his, David allowed the spirit of murder to enter his heart. He devised a plan that would ensure Uriah's death at the front lines of battle and took Bathsheeba to be his wife.

 

At what point do you think David could have stopped himself from advancing towards the edge of the precipice? None of this need have happened if David was at the right place at the right time, namely, out on the battlefield instead of the roof of his house.

 

A warrior with a battle he so tragically lost….a loss that no doubt pierced the heart of Jehovah…..

 

What win I if I gain the thing I seek?

A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy?

Who buys a minute's myrth to wail a week

Or sells eternity to get a toy?

For one sweet grape, who would the vine destroy?

Or what fond beggar but to touch the crown,

Would with the scepter straight be stricken down.

- William Shakespeare

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: David's First Victory by William Strutt (1825-1915)

THE BOOK OF LIFE

 

Book of Life by Chris Brazelton

Because I am a writer, the very essence of me has been spilt on paper….in my journals, my blogs, my poetry.  My thoughts, feelings, perceptions, understanding, my lessons, my experience here on earth…is all documented. I often look at my journals and notebooks I have used as my companions over the years and I feel sorrow that I will leave them behind when I am called home.

I am convinced that I was a writer in my pre-earth life and that all my writing is waiting for me somewhere in a room that was my very own….and so I  have also hoped that there would be someone I know in heaven who has copied all my earthly writing to add to the existing stash for me to own for eternity.

There just so happens to be a book in heaven in which are recorded names of the righteous who will be immortalized in the analls of eternal history. This book is called the Book of Life:

“In one sense the Book of Life is the total of a person’s thoughts and actions – the record of his life. However, the scriptures also indicate that a heavenly record is kept of the faithful, including their names and accounts of their righteous deeds (Rev 3:5; 20:12; D&C 88:2;128:6-7; Alma 5:58) .”  (LDS Guide to the Scriptures, Book of Life)

A St George Temple worker by the name of Elder John Mickelson Lang received a revelation in 1928 regarding the Book of Life that explains the process of this record keeping:

“Every spirit that comes to earth has a guardian angel, whose duty it is to keep a record of the individual’s parentage, the conditions under which it was born, its inheritance, environment, thoughts and desires, and when the individual’s life is completed, the guardian angel’s mission ends. It returns, makes its report and hands in the record it has kept. This record is placed upon the other book, spoken of as The Book of Life. All this gave me to understand that in this other book is preserved the names and perfect dates of every spirit that ever came to earth.” (Joseph Heinerman, Temple Manifestations, (1836-1930), St George Temple)

 

I want to remember the beauty

Surrendered by the withered rose

And all the memories of my life

Near and far,

I want to take them with me

When I am called to cross the bar.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

A SUFFERING SERVANT

 

"Oh God Where Art Thou" by Paul Marli - LDS ART

Chapters 52 and 53 of Isaiah contain the greatest Messianic prophecy identifying the Messiah as ‘the Suffering Servant’. This was the Saviour’s role in His mortal life. This prophecy is also dualistic in nature, meaning it speaks of two men in very similar roles.

In this prophecy Isaiah says the Saviour’s visage was “marred more than any man”. This is a reference to His crucifixion and suffering on Calvary when He atoned for the sins of the world (Isaiah 52:14).

When visiting the Nephites, the Saviour Himself made it clear that there shall be another servant in the latter days who shall accomplish ‘a great and marvelous work’. Even though there will be many who will not believe him, the Saviour said this servant shall be ‘marred’ because of them and be persecuted throughout his life until they succeed in killing him. This latter-day servant is Joseph Smith. (3 Nephi 21:9,10; Old Testament Student Manual, commentary for Isaiah 52:13-15).

I am amazed at how similar Joseph’s earthly life was to that of the Saviour’s. Like many other prophets, he was the prototype of Christ. When Joseph cried out in misery to God whilst in Liberty jail, the Lord told him that hell shall rage against him (D&C 122:1-2). This truly proved to be true.

Right from the beginning Joseph was aware that he was destined to be “a disturber and an annoyer of Satan’s kingdom” (JSH 1:20). Two years prior to his death he said that ‘envy and wrath of man have been his common lot all the days of his life and that ‘deep water was what he was wont to swim in, which had become second nature to him’ (D&C 127:2). That is a description of one hard life….

This is how he saw himself:

“I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain, and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyer-craft, doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and women – all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there” (Teachings of Prophet Joseph Smith, p 304).

Not only did Joseph have to contend with the unbelievers but he often had to struggle with opposition within the Church: “In early 1844 a group of apostates in Nauvoo, Illinois, declared the Prophet Joseph Smith to be a fallen prophet and tried to start a rival church. Some even held secret meetings, during which they plotted to kill him” (See Glen L. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise [2002], 357-62).

I am certain that Joseph felt it was all worth it when the Saviour sealed upon him his exaltation a year prior to his death:

“For I am the Lord thy God and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity, for verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my Father…..Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins….”  (D&C 132:49,50)

A mission achieved, a life well endured……I wonder how many of his critics would be willing to live a life like his. 

 

You stood so resolute and willing

In the councils of heaven,

Knowing the jaws of hell

Would open at the mention of your name.

 

Still, you knelt in the sacred grove

And uttered the words of faith.

You honoured your promise

To restore the truth

And you opened the heaven’s gate.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN  

THE MIGHTY DAVID

 

There has not been a king who loved the God of Israel more than King David. When he conquered Jerusalem he brought the ark of the covenant into the city ‘with gladness’ and led a procession of Israelites playing instruments, shouting, singing and dancing ‘before the Lord with all his might’ in praise of the God he worshipped (2 Samuel 6:12-15). No king of Israel was more free from idolatrous inclinations or practices than David. Because of this, he became the standard of excellence that all subsequent kings came to be measured by (The Old Testament Student Manual Book 2, Enrichment F-1).

David’s valour and his accomplishments as  king were outstanding. His reign is known in the annals of history as ‘the golden age of Israel’ (The Old Testament Student Manual Book 1 p 287). His love for the God of Israel can leave you breathless through the psalms he wrote about Him. But David was also the greatest tragedy of the ancient world. His life is the most dualistic out of any and accentuates Jehovah’s warning about kings. It goes on to show, the higher the rise, the greater the fall. To understand the tragedy of the fall we must understand his accomplishments as a king.

David did three things for temporal Israel that typify what Christ will do for spiritual Israel.  Firstly, following Saul's death, Israel's kingdom was divided in two for seven years. The tribe of Judah accepted David as their king and the rest of the tribes of Israel were ruled by Ishbosheth, one of the sons of Saul, whom Abner, Saul's commanding general set up as the new king (2 Sam 2:8-9).

 

Despite being anointed as Israel's king, by Samuel, the prophet, David refrained from taking action against Ishbosheth in honour of the covenant he made with Jonathan not to retaliate against Saul's family when he came to power. Following Ishbosheth's murder David showed great wisdom and judgment by executing the two men responsible (see (2 Samuel 3). This brought him into favour with the tribes under Ishbosheth and ultimately united all twelve tribes into one nation under the ultimate leadership of God.

 

Secondly, David succeeded in winning the whole extent of the promised land for the covenant people. For the first time the chosen people of the Lord controlled the whole land promised to Abraham's posterity nearly a thousand years earlier.

 

Thirdly, David established Zion or Jerusalem as the spiritual and political center of Israel. Under David's reign Israel reached its golden age. Never before had Israel achieved such heights of power nor did they ever again. (Old Testament Student Manual, Book 1 p 291)

 

All this for the love of Jehovah and then this: “….As the transgressor moves deeper and deeper in his sin, and the error is entrenched more deeply and the will to change is weakened, it becomes increasingly near-hopeless, and he skids down and down until either he does not want to climb back or he has lost the power to do so.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 117). This became the tragic path of David but more of that later….

 

So do we hold David in our esteem as the greatest Israel king or do we think of him as a tragedy to be remembered???

 

David was anointed to sit on the throne of Israel and to establish the royal family that would produce the King of Kings who would one day sit ‘on the throne of his father David’ (Luke 1:32-33).  My question is this: was David chosen to be an example of the good King who was to come or was he chosen to show that no king can be as good as the King that was to come????? I often think our present-day governments will with their weakness and corruption accentuate the blessing that the King of Kings will be when He comes to govern the world.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: King David Playing the Harp by Gerard Van Honthorst [1622]

HE WHO KNOWS ME BEST

 

By His Wounds by Chris Brazelton

The greatest surprise of this stage of my life, as I struggle with bad health, is how it has affected me mentally and how I have responded to it. I never knew its effects would be so far and wide. As I have looked back over my life, I had to admit to myself that I didn’t know beforehand how I would react to anything I have experienced in my life.

Sometimes we think we know ourselves but we really don’t. I have noticed the push in our society is to invest ourselves in achieving this very thing….we are told it’s the greatest thing we can do. Experience, however, seems to do that with great proficiency.  This is why we are here.  

I had a very unusual experience which I wrote about recently. I was musing about my life, which is happening more often than ever before as I approach the last leg of my journey here. As I was reflecting, I found myself in my mind in front of the great Judge, God the Father. He asked me three questions: How did you enjoy your mortal probation? What do you think you learnt from it? How do you think you did overall?

An understanding like no other flooded my being that there was nothing I could hide or tell half-truths about because He knew the very essence of my being: my innermost thoughts and intents, my sins, my rebellious moments in response to my sufferings, the times I had questioned Him and His goodness, my dislikes and likes, my conduct, my earthly indignities, my ingratitude, everything that made me tick….there was nothing, absolutely nothing about me or in me that He did not know. Every time I opened my mouth, nothing would come out. I knew with every fibre of my being that He knew the answer to every question before I could form it in my mind.

I felt like I was transparent before Him. He was not watching me but looking into the very depths of my soul. It was as if He was inside me. I understood clearly as I understand that day follows night because I can see it, that God is so inter-connected with His children that it defies our mortal understanding. We, here and now, do not know and cannot fathom our spiritual origin or the Father’s connection with His children. God is beyond our understanding.

Then hope flooded my being. I had nothing to say and would not need to. There was someone else who saw into the very depths of my soul during the greatest moment of suffering known to man. He who absorbed the totality of my life could and would answer all the questions the Father would have of my conduct on Judgment Day: my intentions, my achievements, my failings. He, the Advocate who suffered for my soul would with His strength make up for my frailty (D&C 45:4-5). 

This is grace, the ultimate all-encompassing gift, second only to eternal life. This grace too is beyond our understanding. We will fully come to know it when we are face to face with the justice of the Father. We will know then who the Saviour truly is…a sacrifice that none of us could give, a hope of salvation, another God we are yet to comprehend.

Often You come into my mind

And I wonder about my ‘enoughs’:

Did I go to Church enough?

Did I serve enough?

Have I done enough?

 

I see you in my heart smiling

And I know….

What will matter in the end the most

Is not what I have done

But what I have become.

 

I follow in Your footsteps

And try to be like Thee

But often fail because of weakness

that is in me.

 

Your blood flows from Calvary still

And I hear You say:

It is enough, I will make up the rest,

I accept Your holy quest!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN