In All Lowliness of Heart

After teaching about the quorums of the Twelve and the Seventy, the Lord said this: “The decisions of these quorums, or either of them, are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long-suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity; Because the promise is, if these things abound in them they shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:30-31). The need for the Twelve to be humble as stated here is also mentioned in the revelation to the president of the Twelve, Thomas B. Marsh a couple years later. He was told, “Nevertheless, inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted…. Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” As the president of the quorum he in particular needed to be humble, and so did his quorum: “the Twelve, duly recommended and authorized by you, shall have power to open the door of my kingdom unto any nation whithersoever ye shall send them—Inasmuch as they shall humble themselves before me, and abide in my word, and hearken to the voice of my Spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:3,10,21-22). Surely this was needed counsel then in particular, for soon thereafter several of the apostles forsook their ministry and in their pride left the Church.

                The need for the Twelve to be humble was particularly emphasized, as in the above scripture, along with their duty to preach the gospel. In a revelation in 1838 the Lord said this about the Twelve: “Let the residue continue to preach from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long-suffering, I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:3). It seems as if the Lord was trying to use every word available to emphasize the importance of humility: they needed lowliness of heart, meekness, humility, and long-suffering. Within a few months of this revelation, Thomas B. Marsh left the Church and began actively opposing the Saints. He was anything but humble as he swore an affidavit which helped lead to the extermination order and much persecution. He later described his pride: “I became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double, and overlooked everything that was right, and spent all my time in looking for the evil; and then, when the Devil began to lead me, it was easy for the carnal mind to rise up, which is anger, jealousy, and wrath. I could feel it within me; I felt angry and wrathful; and the Spirit of the Lord being gone, as the Scriptures say, I was blinded, … I got mad, and I wanted everybody else to be mad.” Looking back we can of course see that the Lord had been warning him through multiple revelations to remain humble, but he had failed to remember and heed this crucial counsel.

This story and these scriptures of course highlight the need for all of us, whatever our responsibility in the Lord’s kingdom, to be meek and lowly of heart. We must learn to depend upon the Lord just as the residue of the Twelve did when they humbly embarked upon their mission to England. Brigham Young, for example, was in the “depths of poverty” in September 1839 when he left his family for his mission. “He was suffering from malaria and shaking with fever. His health was so bad that, as he recalled, ‘I was unable to walk twenty rods without assistance. I was helped to the edge of the river Mississippi and carried across.’ Nevertheless, he ‘was determined to go to England or to die trying.’” In that lowly state, with humility and faith in the Lord, he and the Twelve embarked and ultimately had an incredibly successful mission to England. The Lord indeed did open “an effectual door” for them, and surely he will for us in all our challenges if we will humble ourselves before Him.