To Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

In a revelation in Zion, the Lord said this about the Sabbath: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;… But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full. Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:13-14). I have always assumed that this “fasting” referred to the well-known practice of going without food and water for a period of time. But it seems a little out of place in the context of the whole revelation since it wasn’t talking about that kind of fasting before suddenly referencing it. And the idea of preparing food in order to make fasting perfect seems a bit odd as well. Certainly food is prepared to end a fast, but that doesn’t seem to be what is meant here. The important point in this verse appears to be the idea of “singleness of heart” and not really the preparation or abstinence from food. And of course, these verses would suggest that fasting is the same as rejoicing, which my children would surely argue against and even the Savior suggested the opposite. When the disciples of John asked why His disciples didn’t fast, He replied, “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast” (Matthew 9:15). Here he connected mourning with fasting, a sentiment my own children could relate much more to.    

               So, could He have meant something else in Doctrine and Covenants 59 when He spoke about fasting? According to the footnote, the answer is yes. I’m sure I have read this section many times, but I don’t recall ever noticing this footnote on the first reference to fasting: “IE hungering and thirsting after righteousness.” I have never considered that another form of fasting could be to hunger after righteousness, but I see now that this definition matches the context of this revelation. Just as when we go without food our bodies long to eat, so too our spirits might be in such an attitude that they yearn for righteousness and the things of God as we refrain from the things of the world. Here is how these verses might read with that idea substituted for the word fasting: “On this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy yearning for righteousness may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full. Verily, this is hungering after righteousness and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.” With this reading, the important point about the food is not to end a physical fast but to suggest that we can do the worldly things we need to do with singleness of heart to stay focused on the spiritual. That focus on the things of God and yearning for righteousness is what will bring us joy. The Savior put it this way at the end of this revelation: “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23). Abraham perhaps connected these ideas best when he said: “And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness” (Abraham 1:2). To seek for righteousness is to seek for greater happiness, and as we hunger and thirst after righteousness we can find both joy and rejoicing.