How Merciful the Lord Hath Been

The Come, Follow Me lesson this week makes this observation: “The Book of Mormon opens with Nephi’s promise to show us that ‘the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith’ (1 Nephi 1:20). The book closes with a similar message from Moroni as he prepared to ‘seal up’ the records: he invited us to ‘remember how merciful the Lord hath been’ (Moroni 10:2–3). Even if we think only of the many mercies recorded in the Book of Mormon, this gives us a lot to think about.” Indeed, the mercy of the Lord, as highlighted here in the first and last chapters, is a key them in the Book of Mormon. I believe that one of the messages the prophets of the Book of Mormon wanted their people and us to see was the mercy of the Lord to all those who will come unto Him.

                Lehi was one prophet who repeatedly focused on the mercy of the Lord to his family. He prayed to the Lord in his vision that “he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of this tender mercies” and afterwards to Laman and Lemuel did “exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them” (1 Nephi 8:8, 37). Later in the promised land “he spake unto them concerning their rebellions upon the waters, and the mercies of God in sparing their lives, that they were not swallowed up in the sea. And he also spake unto them concerning the land of promise, which they had obtained—how merciful the Lord had been in warning us that we should flee out of the land of Jerusalem” (2 Nephi 1:2-3). To Jacob he taught the powerful principle that “there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). To his grandchildren he highlighted the mercy that the Lord would have on them: “Because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever” (2 Nephi 4:7). That promise would extend even to our day as the descendants of Lehi many years later are gathered back into the gospel covenant.

                Other prophets similarly highlighted the mercy of the Lord to their people and to us. Jacob exclaimed, “And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long…. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts” (Jacob 6:4-5). Of his own people Jarom wrote, “God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land” (Jarom 1:3). Alma spoke of the Lord’s mercy as he repented of his sins: “Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God” (Mosiah 27:28). He would teach of that mercy to his people as he went forth among them: “Behold he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you” (Alma 5:33). After the conversion of so many Lamanites, Anti-Nephi-Lehi rejoiced in the mercy of the Lord to them: “And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish…. Therefore in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations. Oh, how merciful is our God!” (Alma 24:14-15). Ammon likewise rejoiced in the mercies of God to them as missionaries: “Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men?... Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and polluted state?... Behold he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls…. He is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name…. His bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving” (Alma 26:16-17, 20, 35, 37). From his own experience receiving forgiveness of his sins and watching his Lamanite converts likewise be forgiven of the Lord, Ammon knew that the Lord was indeed a “merciful Being” for all those who repent and come unto Him.    

                These are just a few of the passages that highlight the great mercies of the Lord, and the Book of Mormon invites us to ponder that mercy for those people as well as for us in our own lives. The promise and invitation from Mormon is for us today: “And thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God” (Helaman 3:27-28).