Stay Upon His God

In Jacob’s words quoting Isaiah 50, we have this rhetorical question: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?” (2 Nephi 7:10) The message seems to be that if we truly fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant, we will not walk in darkness. We will have light if we obey His commandments and hear His voice. This reminds me of these words of John to the Saints of his day: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). He went as far as to say that we are liars if we claim to have fellowship with the Savior and yet still walk in darkness. The Savior also declared this, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). To follow Him who is the light of the world, we cannot help but to have light with us for our own walk. The Savior encouraged us become “children of light” which surely means to walk in His light: “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:35-36). He was the light which was with them and in which they were to believe. Paul used this language to encourage the Ephesians when he wrote, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). He similarly wrote to the Thessalonians, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). All of these passages encourage us to walk in the light of the Lord. As we choose to follow Him, we will not walk in darkness.

            It is interesting, though, that this verse in the book of Isaiah as we have it includes another phrase. It reads this way: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God” (Isaiah 50:10). The additional phrase “let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God” is not found in the Book of Mormon, and to me it changes the question of this verse so that it is no longer rhetorical. Instead of saying, “It is not possible to obey the voice of the Lord and walk in darkness,” the Isaiah version says this: “If you feel that you are still walking in darkness even after fearing the Lord and obeying the voice of His servants, then trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon His God.” The verse this way makes room for those who feel that they are still in darkness even when they are seeking to follow the Lord and trying to do everything He has asked. Ultimately, I believe it is not possible to walk in darkness forever while we are obeying His servants and fearing the Lord, but certainly for a time we may feel that way. Like the people of Malachi’s day we might say this, “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?” When we serve God we may for a time feel that we still walk mournfully and without His light. But Isaiah’s invitation is clear: when you feel that way, when you seem to get darkness even when reaching out for the light, don’t abandon your trust in the Lord. In those times when we are tempted to say, “We call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered,” Isaiah’s words call us to stay (Malachi 3:14-15). Trust in the name of the Lord, and stay with your God. We can be sure that though “weeping may endure for a night,” there will be “joy [that] cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). If we continue to stay upon our God, even when we feel we are in darkness, the day will come and we will indeed walk in the light.