Sill Waters

My wife recently introduced me to a new song by Christian singer Leanna Crawford called Still Waters that I find very profound. The first verse and chorus go as follows: 

Great Aunt Maurine said at a hundred and three

Write scripture on your heart for when you need it

Cause anxiety hates Psalm 23

So just say it to yourself ‘til you believe it

And I’m feeling like I’m needing it right now 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want

He leads me by still waters ‘til my fears are gone

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

O I know You are with me

My father, my friend

Your goodness and mercy will follow me all of my days

I know by Your still waters I’m safe 

I love this image of “still waters” that she took from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:1-2). There is something soothing and sacred about a pool of still water in nature that reminds us that the Savior can calm the storms of life and offer us peace. Other psalms speak about this as well. In one we read, “Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people” (Psalm 65:6-7). In another we are asked these rhetorical questions: “O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?” The psalmist then declared: “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them” (Psalm 89:8-9). He can still the waves in our lives as we led Him lead us by the calm waters. Another psalm reads, “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still” (Psalm 107:28-29). We worship a Savior who has the power to calm the storm and set us figuratively by still waters. That’s what he did literally on the Sea of Galilee: “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:37-39). Whatever storms of life we face, He has power to calm them and bring us by still waters.

                The Book of Mormon is named after Mormon by his son Moroni who finished the record. Mormon explained where his name came from: “And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people” (3 Nephi 5:12). Alma secretly brought those who believed him to a place called Mormon, and its prominent feature was water: “Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees.” It was in this water that many were baptized by Alma, and it became a place very sacred to them: “And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever” (Mosiah 18:5, 30). So, as we think of the name Mormon, we should remember the connection this name has to the still waters of Mormon where the people came to the knowledge of the Savior through the covenant of baptism. Ultimately all who choose to follow Jesus Christ have the opportunity to be baptized literally in still waters, and that water that should remind us that He can calm all the storms of our lives. His voice will continually call out to each of us who seek to forsake our sins and keep that covenant made at the waters of baptism: “Be still and know that I am God” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:16).