Often the titles of lessons raise questions for me. If God ‘remembered’ His covenant, does that mean he forgot? Is forgetting an error? Or is it ok to forget sometimes, even if it is an agreement we made? What are we saying about the nature of God when we say that He ‘remembered His covenant?’

I don’t think this is simply sophistry. There is an important issue here. Is this translated correctly—and therefore God doesn’t forget his commitments—or is God able to shift His attention from one thing to another, ‘forgetting’ something to focus on something else? Can God adjust what he does? If we believe in continuing revelation, is this just so that we can be told the same thing over and over? Or are the revelations we get different from time to time, as God changes his priorities or as he adjusts to fit current circumstances?

What kind of a God do we believe in anyway?

 

God can work through me to fulfill His purposes.

Fortunately, we do largely agree on many things about God. For example, we believe that God mostly works through us. While God is a God of miracles, he also respects agency, and puts us in a position to choose whether or not to believe or act, instead of making the choice too obvious by way of miracles.

One place where we are asked to do His work is missionary work, and LDS poetry has often discussed the call we receive to share the gospel. The following poem is about the call to serve as a seventy—the older priesthood office in wards and branches that had responsibility for missionary work.

 

The Seventy

by D. J. Ross

And am I call’d of God to teach the truth,

Bearing the order of His Royal Son;

And must I traverse seas and lands to tell

The gospel tidings to the sons of men?

High Heaven’s ambassador! almighty thought!

God’s representative to every clime!

O let me pray that he may guide my erring

Hand in this the highest honor ere conferr’d

On man. Fraught with a thousand thought’s is this,

Whenever I view, though limited, the field

Before me in a day to come, for I

Must learn to tell the story simply to

The poor, or stand in courts and speak the truth

To kings. Free as salvation must my spirit

Be tun’d to all circles, circumstance, or

Place; arm’d well my soul with argumentative

Proof and reasoning clear, in language chaste,

To give the word in season due to fallen

Man. Then when prepare for this so glorious

Work? When sent to do it or before the

Time? E’en now in Ephraim’s vales, for when abroad,

Amid the jars and jargon of conflicting

Sects, what says the Spirit—what will reason

Say? “In time of peace prepare for war.” Yes,

Now at home, when all is fair, and not a

Ripple on the sea of time to stay my

Onward course, I can improve full many an

Idle hour in faith and prayer, and study

From good books; seek for companion’s lesson’d

Age, whose main delight is to instruct the

Aspiring mind in things of God, and from

Whose tales of bygone times and counsels sage

I can receive and treasure up vast funds

Of knowledge; attend the schools, not for debate,

For Heaven knows no division, but where

They meet unitedly to sing, to pray,

And speak—training the mind to master slavish

Fear, and feel at home to give my views, calm

And collected, to tens or thousands, as the

Case may be, by Heaven directed then.

The ability to write I should require

That I may pen my thoughts in proper form

And through the press as from the pulpit preach

The word of life; and seek to know the earth,

Her varied climes and nations, their

Localities, and institutions sacred

Or profane. In short, as circumstances will,

Let me be ever found in search of truth;

Then, O my God, be wisdom given, that

I may wisely use the moments as they fly,

For I, Thy minute man, desire to know

Their value.

1853

 

Jesus Christ is my Deliverer.

Our understanding of Christ’s role is another indication of our conception of God. His relationship with our Father is also an ideal for us. When Jesus submits to the Father’s will, despite what it will cost, he both suggests that we should so submit, and indicates that God is trying to deliver us.

All of this is evident in the following poem by Annie G. Lauritzen.

 

Through Christ and Repentance Are Ye Saved

by Annie G. Lauritzen

Learn to shun no task or duty; follow where the Savior led:

Jesus’ life was plain and perfect; in his footsteps let us tread.

Ask the secret of his mission, search the key to his success:

‘Twas: he sought to save his fellows, truly love them and to bless.

 

And his prayer was: “Thine, O Father, thine and not my will be done.”

And his will was e’en the Father’s, e’en the Great Eternal One.

Lo! he groaned in blood and anguish, sorely wept for those who sin,

Gladly suffered pain and sorrow, nobly died, that man might win.

 

Follow then his sacred footsteps, crown of Glory and of Life,

And be valient in his service, in the war ‘gainst sin and strife.

He shall lead them to his glory, and deliver them from fall,

Who repent of their transgressions, and obey his saving call.

1900

 

I can show reverence for holy things and places.

I think “holy things and places” likewise suggest something about the nature of God. Things and places are holy in order to help us connect with Him. They are otherwise ordinary things and places which are made holy because of what they provide us.

When we say places, we mean everything from our homes and our temples, to whole countries and continents — places like Zion. The following poem talks about what it means to gather to Zion the holy place where we can live in peace, if we will simply do so.

 

Stanzas to Zion

by Richard H. Smyth

Oh, say not friendship’s holy name

Is but an empty, vapid sound;

Say not that friendship’s sacred flame

On earthly shrine is never found;

That heavenly truth no longer cheers

The lonely pilgrim on his way;

That earth is but a vale of tears,

Where sinful mortals go astray;

That mighty faith no longer brings

The richest blessings from above;

That hope’s bright star no lustre flings;

That strife has quenched the power of love;

That charity no longer moves

The heart of man to gen’rous deeds:

The desert flower yet often proves

The earth’s not overrun with weeds..

See, in you lonely vales afar,

How bright these heavenly virtues shine

How truth soars in her hallowed car,

And faith bedecks her brows divine.

Oh, Zion’s sons are truly brave;

The bands of brotherhood are strong:

Know ye, who would her rights invade,

Zion shall ne’er submit to wrong.

What hope inspires that gallant host!

What love, what charity is there!

Their God and truth their only boast;

And slavery’s yoke they’ll never wear.

Dear Zion, grace be with thee still!

May every virtue bloom in thee;

And may their balmy fragrance fill

This world of sin and misery.

But ere the gathering clouds of dread

Burst in a hurricane of woe,

May I thy sacred places tread,

And ne’er my solemn vows forego.

1858

 

God gives power to people He calls to do His work.

Another element of the nature of God can be seen in the power he concedes to those he has called to work for him. We often think of this power as the power to work miracles, or do unexpected things. But like His respect for agency (see the first poem above), the power he gives is more subtle and ‘normal.’

In the following poem, Linnie Fischer Robinson looks at the power or ability that a teacher seeks, but the teacher soon discovers that some power is either selfish or not helpful, while a more humble power makes all the difference in the world.

 

The Teacher

by Linnie Fisher Robinson

He prayed for eloquence of speech,

For memory of phrase and line;

Life found him wand’ring like a child,

Confused before a thought sublime.

He prayed for wisdom of the great,

And copied with his might the Word;

They nodded at his learned store,

And talked of game and flig’ht of bird.

He prayed for grace and power to aid.

In humble prayer — for spirit true;

Men listened all amazed and cried,

“Let us, as this blest servant, do.”

1930

 

The Lord’s purposes will be fulfilled in His own time.

Perhaps the aspect of the nature of God that is hardest for human beings to understand is his timing. Why can so many suffer for decades or centuries before the suffering is finally relieved? If God’s ‘work and glory’ is about the salvation of Man, how is it so hard to see his timing?

In this poem, the English poet James Bond (yes, that was his name), suggests that the situation we find ourselves in is permitted by God. While I’m a bit uncomfortable with the passivity that this can suggest to many people, I do agree with Bond that trust in God and submitting to His will is needed. I’m not sure that Bond’s view is right, but I don’t think he’s completely wrong.

 

Whatever Is, Is Right

By James Bond

When weak, short sighted mortals learn

To trust the God above,

With eyes of faith they’ll then discern

The pow’r of endless Love;

And knowing that our God is just,

Though clouds may veil our sight,

In Providence we’ll put our trust—

“Whatever is, is right.”

 

If smiling fortune favors sends,

And beams on us her rays,

Wit joy will take whate’er she lends,

And give to God the praise;

But should she seem to frown awhile,

Her sun ne’er shine so bright,

With patience wait to catch her smile—

“Whatever is, is right.”

 

If flattering prospects should appear,

And dreams of future bliss,

And happy days be with us here,

They ne’er will come amiss;

Or should a gloom becloud the skies,

Our hopes receive a blight,

New hopes and prospects soon will rise—

“Whatever is, is right.”

 

When peace and plenty reign around,

And heavenly gifts descend,

Then joy shall in our hearts abound,

To know that God’s our friend.

Should hell array ‘gainst us its force,

Our day be turned to night,

In steadfastness we’ll keep our course—

“Whatever is, is right.”

 

And should we in our lives pursue

The way of sin’s dark road,

We’ll own that God is just and true,

If hell is our abode;

Or if we take the better way,

To realms of endless light,

We’ll praise our God, and humbly say—

“WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT,”

1852