While the sections in this lesson address what to do after the loss of the 116 pages and what Hyrum Smith should do, elements of these sections and the lesson have a triumphalist element, pointing out that the Lord’s plans will not be thwarted because of opposition. However, this should not be read as some kind of competition that those who are on the Lord’s side are winning, but rather as something that will give us confidence to continue to follow Him despite trials and opposition. Yes, the Lord is many moves ahead in the chess game, but for the Lord, it’s not about the fight or about winning the game, it’s about the salvation of His children.

 

God “will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil design.”

The first section of the lesson is a good example of this. The issue of what to do with the loss of the 116 pages is certainly a trial for Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and the revelation makes it clear that the Lord has already provided a way around the difficulty. And the Lord’s foresight regarding the loss suggests that His actions towards Joseph are more about teaching him how to avoid future problems and deal with trials than it is about punishment or winning any contest with Satan. The following poem by Eliza R. Snow provides this same kind of encouragement through the trials we face, even if they seem to be something that helps an evil design.

 

Though outward trials

by Eliza R. Snow

Though outward trials throng your way,

Press on, press on, ye Saints of God!

Ere long, the resurrection day

Will spread its light and truth abroad.

Though outward ills await us here,

The time at longest, is not long;

Ere prince Messiah will appear

Surrounded by a glorious throng

Lift up your hearts in praise to God-

Let your rejoicings never cease:

Though tribulation rage abroad,

Christ says, “in me ye shall have peace.”

What tho’ our rights have been assal’d?

What tho’ by foes we’ve been despoiled?

Jehovah’s promise has not fail’d-

Jehovah’s purpose is not foil’d.

His work is moving on apace,

And great events are rolling forth-

The kingdom of the latter days-

The “little stone,” must fill the earth.

Though satan rage, ’tis all in vain,-

The words the ancient prophets spoke

Sure, as the throne of God, remain,

Nor men nor devils can revoke.

All glory to His sacred name,

Who calls his servants-sends them forth.

To prove the nations-to proclaim

Salvation’s trumpet, thro’ the earth.

1841

 

The Lord’s “wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.”

Section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants does point out that the Lord has foreseen the opposition and provided for it. In the following poem, Charles W. Penrose suggests that He has not only seen the opposition, but that the elements of the opposition will oppose one another—that in their lack of unity lies the seeds of their own failure.

At the time this was written, Penrose was a young missionary in his native England, prior to his emigration to Utah. For much of his life, he was a prolific poet and hymnwriter, perhaps best known for the hymn “O Ye Mountains High.” He was called as an Apostle in 1904 and then as a member of the First Presidency in 1911.

 

Opposition

by Charles W. Penrose

This is a world with opposition rife:

How fierce the contest between Death and Life!

Darkness, black mail’d, and silver-crested Light,

Keep up a constant ne’er-forgiving fight:

Falsehood, with shameless brow, a monarch reigns,

And willing man girds on his cankering chains;

While modest Truth, pure as the breath of spring,

In majesty assails the crafty king,

Dissolves his fetters, sets the captives free,

And makes them partners in the victory.

Evil, a demon from the shades of hell,

Bewitches mortals with his baneful spell;

And Good, a kindly spirit from the skies,

A counteracting elixir supplies.

Alas! how few drink from the healing cup!

To Evil’s spell the multitude give up.

Pleasure, with golden curls and mirthful face,

By Pain pursued, flies swift from place to place;

The stern-soul’d monster, with his scorpion hand,

Untiring, chases him from land to land.

Fear creeps around, and shrinks and chills the heart:

The anxious, doubting glance, the sudden start,

Its presence their displays; but Courage shows

His form divine, and warm the life-tide flows;

Nerv’d is the arm, calm and serene the face;

The puny reptile Fear slinks off apace.

See, low-brow’d, dull-eyed Ignorance extends

A filmy curtain o’er the globe. He mends

And patches it; for bright Intelligence,

His mortal foe, has sworn to drive him hence,

And rend his curtain from the earth away.

With Reason’s aid, he hastens its decay;

His glory sparkles through each orifice;

But ign’rance stops the holes with prejudice.

With brow serene calm Wisdom walks alone;

For giggling Folly sits upon his throne.

Malice and Love, Pride and Humility

Are each contending for the mastery;

And swarming round, on earth, in sea and air,

Opposing powers are struggling everywhere.

Behold the tempest! See the maddened waves

In passion rolling! How the strong wind raves !

The twisted lightning shows like fiery snakes,

And over all the crashing thunder breaks :

Each on the other frantic fury vents;

It is a war among the elements.

The beasts, with howlings fierce, for prey contend,-

With frightful yells each other’s bodies rend.

The finny monsters of the briny deep,

(Mysterious bed, where countless treasures sleep,)

With vengeful ire, pursue their scaly foes:

What scenes of blood old Ocean could disclose!

The feathered nations of the firmament,

So harmless, seemingly, and innocent,

May oft be seen in battle as they fly.

With savage spite and fierce discordant cry.

But who could tell-what mortal pow’r could pen

The opposition raging amongst men?

Nations contend for glory and renown,

And millions die to gain for one a crown.

See lords and plebeians on the hustings mix,

And fawn, and lie, and squabble upon politics.

In Congress Hall, or House of Parliament,

These Statesmen” meet, on Opposition bent,-

Against each “bill” “amendments” introduce,

And smear each other with polite abuse.

The Doctors, who make physic and long bills,

Wrangle about their ointments, drugs, and pills,-

Jabber chopp’d Latin, and dead bodies hack.

The Druggist ealls the Herbalist a quack;

“And you’re a poisoner,” Herbarius cries:

Their learned twaddle blinds the “patient’s” eyes;—

Patient, indeed, their filthy stuff to drink,

And pay to have his stomach made a sink.

With Merchants, “competition “rages high,

And tradesmen advertise, and puff, and try

With others’ ruin fortune’s road to pave,-

With rival houses “no connection have.”

The railway Companies, in every town,

Are striving hard to run each other down.

If Opposition still continues thus,

By screeching train or rumbling omnibus,

We may expect to travel, in a crack,

For sixpence each, to Jericho and back!

But oh, how fiercely strife’s dark current rolls

Among the traffickers in human souls !—

The meek-faced, smooth-tongued, snuffling, priestly set,

Who fish for sinners with a cunning net

Of silken sophistry and guesswork made!

‘Mong hell-scared souls they drive a “roaring” trade.

Often they buy or sell a fishery,

Entitle it a “living” or a “curacy.”

Sometimes a “living” fat is giv’n away:

Then what a scramble! How they’ll cringe and pray

Before the bishop, titled dame, or peer,

Who holds the gift! Five hundred pounds a year

Is not the cause of their anxiety;—

Oh no! ‘Tis zeal for truth and piety!

Some say we’re doomed as soon as we expire,

To burn for ever in a blist’ring fire,

Or chosen for the realms of everlasting bliss ;

And nothing we can do will alter this.

Then others call this doctrine devilish,

And say we’re free to go which road we wish.

“All dead unsprinkled babies are in flames,”

One parson says. “Tis false,” the next exclaims.

One sect will tell us none are right but them,

And ev’ry party but their own condemn.

While others vow that, if we’re but sincere,

It makes no odds what road we travel here;-

No difference, if our pace be slow or fast,

We’re sure to meet in heaven-one place-at last!

Oh, when will all this opposition cease,

And mother earth enjoy a time of peace?

That time will come—is coming even now!

The nations then to righteous laws shall bow,—

The Great Eternal reign as King of kings,

O’er earth, and men, and all created things,-

Direct the forces of the universe,-

Discordant elements and powers reverse.

Evil and Malice, Ign’rance, Pain, and Death,

Pride, Folly, Falsehood, all shall sink beneath :

Each, baffled, conquered by its opposite,

In haste shall emigrate to spheres of night;

And those who love and live on strife and woe

Will have to study unity below!

Among mankind, contention then shall end;

Their feelings, views, and interests will blend:

The scattered Saints of every age shall meet,

The sheep be gathered, garnered by the wheat.

Soul-thrilling sounds of gushing harmony,

The vocal powers of immortality,

Blending with instruments of richest tone,

Shall spread soft melody to every zone.

The happy years on wings of peace shall fly,

All griefs dissolve, and ev’ry tear be dry.

And He whom damn’d, rebellious spirits own

As their High Priest and King, shall lose his throne;

His sceptre, melting from his grasp, shall fall;

Jesus shall reign, and God be all in all !

1858

 

“Put your trust in [the Lord’s] Spirit.”

Similar to the confidence that comes from knowing that the Lord is moves ahead in the chess game is the peace that comes from having trust in Him. The revelation in Section 11 tells Hyrum to seek this trust. The following poem captures this well.

 

I’ll Trust in Him Who Rules on High

by R. Michelsen

I’ll trust in Him who rules on high

Redeemer, Lord of Hosts,

To mark the way my steps to guide;

I’ll trust in Him, He knows.

 

I’ll trust in Him whose power and love,

Were voiced through deepest woes;

“Thy will, O God, not mine be done;

I’ll trust in Him, He knows.

 

I’ll trust in Him, what-e’er befalls,

Nor fear, though storms oppose,

Come follow me, He pleading calls;

I’ll trust in Him, He knows.

1913

 

As I seek to “obtain [God’s] word,” I will receive His Spirit and power.

Sometimes the best poem for the lesson shows a contrary example. Where Section 11 suggests that by obtaining God’s word we receive His support and His Spirit. But the following lines cover what happens when we reject His word.

William G. Mills was one of the bright lights of the early British mission and a prolific poet. Here, he comments on one of the occasional converts who was disillusioned with Utah and returned to England, suggesting that the convert’s visage portrayed his rejection of the truth. Ironically, Mills’ own experience in Utah years later didn’t go well, and he too became disillusioned. He left Utah for California briefly, but later returned to be with his family, but not to the Church, unfortunately.

 

The Saint

by William G. Mills

‘Tis not the downcast look, the outward show,

The placid smile that decks a holy face,

Nor the distorted visage where we trace

The mournful aspect of a man of woe;

 

Nor clasped baud, nor the uplifted eye,

Whene’er the name of God in prayer we hear;

Nor yet the soul that really is sincere,

(For Error has her vot’ries that would lie

 

Subject to death, ere they’d renounce her mode,

That constitutes the Saint. Ah! no: ‘t is he

Who cries, “What wilt thou have me do, O Lord!”

And yields obedience to the heavenly word;

Receives that Spirit which will make him free,

And lives by faith and every word of God!

Douglas, Isle of Man, 1850.