His Reward is With Him

I’ve been thinking about the phrase “his reward is with him” that we find a few places in the scriptures related to the Savior’s return.  The first two occurrences are in the book of Isaiah.  After writing about the Savior’s return when “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,” Isaiah wrote, “Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward is with him, and his work before him” (Isaiah 40:5, 10).  In another chapter speaking about the last days, Isaiah wrote, “Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him” (Isaiah 62:11).  In the New Testament the same phrase occurs at the very end.  In John’s vision he quoted the Lord this way: “And, behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).  The Lord again used this phrase twice in the Doctrine and Covenants.  After telling the Saints “be patient in tribulation until I come” He said again, “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, and they who have sought me early shall find rest to their souls” (D&C 54:10).  The other occurrence is at the end of his revelation to Thomas B. Marsh: “Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly; and my reward is with me to recompense every man according as his work shall be” (D&C 112:34).  So what exactly does the Lord mean by this phrase? 

                Perhaps what the Lord wants us to understand by this phrase that His reward will be with Him when He returns at the Second Coming is that we should not expect the reward now.  Just as in the parable of the laborers of the vineyard, we don’t get the recompense until the end when the work is done.  We don’t expect everything to suddenly go our way when we start keeping the commandments; no, the reward is in at the end.  This is not to say, of course, that the Lord won’t bless us immensely during our lives as we follow His word and do His word.  King Benjamin taught us that the Lord “doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you” (Mosiah 2:24).  The Lord will grant His covenant people great blessings in this life, the most important of which is the presence of the Holy Ghost.  But the true, full reward is not for this life just as we don’t expect to be paid in mortal affairs until after the work has been completed.  So in life it can seem very unfair at times as we might compare our situation to the situation of others who perhaps don’t keep the commandments and yet seem to prosper—but that’s okay because we know that when the Lord does return, His reward for us (if we are true to our covenants) will be with Him.  It reminds me of the words of the Lord to Malachi: “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered….”  The people were complaining because they felt like the wicked were prospering in the things of the world and they who followed the Lord were not.  But Malachi recorded that “a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord…. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” (Malachi 3:14-17).  At times in the world it may feel like the proud are happy and the wicked are set up, but we can trust that a book of remembrance will be kept and the Lord’s reward for the faithful will be with Him when He comes again.