I’m currently spending time looking at the idea of ‘restoration’—probably the key idea that early members of the Church sought after. Our denomination is, and was then, considered a restoration of Christ’s original church. This lesson, covering mainly D&C 20, sometimes called the ‘constitution of the church, looks further at exactly what this means, and suggests that the main elements of the restoration can be divided into four categories: Doctrine, Ordinances, Priesthood Authority and Prophets. And as a result the lesson is divided into those four categories.

It should not be a surprise that the restoration has been a frequent topic for LDS poets, especially when composing hymns. That topic is all through our hymnal, and while we still see it frequently today, it’s nothing like what it was during the first decades after 1830. As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the first hymn in our hymnal, Parley P. Pratt’s “The Morning Breaks,” was written specifically to be the first hymn in the hymnal, specifically because it is a restoration hymn. While I haven’t counted, it could be that as much as half of the poetry before Nauvoo has some restoration element in it.

 

Jesus Christ has restored His Church.

The first of the categories of restoration mentioned in the lesson is Doctrine. The D&C is, in a sense, a compilation of the doctrines restored (although I’m told that what we have was originally intended as the ‘covenants’, since the Lectures on Faith removed from the book in 1921, was to be the ‘doctrine’).

One of the frequent publications in the LDS tradition are lists of scriptures intended to support the doctrines restored through his Church, and a few times these compilations have been rendered as poetry. This poem is an example. Its author, Gustive O. Larson (1897-1978), was serving as a missionary in the California mission when this poem was written. Interrupted by service as mission president in the Swedish mission in the late 1930s, Larson spent most of his career teaching seminary before joining the faculty at BYU in 1954. On his death he was lauded by Utah Historical Quarterly as “historian, writer, philosopher, and humblest of men.” They should have added poet.

 

The Restoration

By Gustive O. Larson

The time had come. Prophecy fulfilled [Micah 3:6]

Found the earth defiled and in transgression; [Isaiah 24:5]

Apostasy brought famine in the land [Amos 8:11]

Where words of God found no expression. [John 16:2]

Spiritual darkness reigned supreme as night [Micah 3:6]

Till simple Faith again should bring the light. [James 1:5]

The message came. Fulfilling revelation,

An angel from the midst of heaven [Rev. 14:6]

Brought to earth the Gospel of Salvation,

And all the keys whose promise had been given; [Malachi 4:5]

And messengers from God came to restore [Malachi 3:1]

The priesthood, as it was on earth before. [Acts 3:21]

‘Tis drawing near. The Messiah soon [Matthew 24:30]

In all his glory shall again appear: [Luke 21:27]

Who lived his Law shall then come forth, [Matthew 7:21]

For at his coming all his own shall hear. [1 Cor. 15:23]

His Plan shall reach its consummation –

The power of god unto man’s salvation. [Rom. 1:16]

One Plan is given. So great its span

The dead within their graves shall hear it, [1 Peter 3:18]

That they, too, may be judged as mortal man,

But live according to the Lord in spirit. [1 Peter 4:6]

Not endless plans and worldly mysticism, [2 Tim. 4:2-4]

But one Lord, one Faith and one Baptism. [Eph. 4:5]

1922

 

Sacred ordinances help me become like the Savior.

The second category of restoration according to the lesson is Ordinances, a key element of LDS practice under any definition. While the earliest mentions of ordinances (before the Nauvoo Temple) focus on baptism, the Temple ordinances are generally considered the crowning ordinances of LDS worship, and no restoration can, therefore, be complete without them.

In the following psalm, Jabez Woodard, praises the idea of the Temple, though his experience was in the endowment house, as no Temple had been completed in Utah when he wrote this poem. Woodard is most often remembered as a missionary companion to Wilford Woodruff in the Italian mission, and as the mission president there after Woodruff left.

 

A Temple Psalm

by Jabez Woodard

What is like unto thee, O thou Temple of the living God?

All nations shall hear of thy greatness; and from all lands the chosen seed will come to worship in thy courts.

We will wash in thy pure waters, and drink from the cup that is blessed by the Holy Priesthood.

Thou art far from the nations of the earth, that thou should’st not be breathed upon by the breath of their defilement, nor be stained by the mire of their crimes.

Happy are they that build thy walls, and that guard thy sacred gates. Their children shall inherit their glory, and they shall be allowed to pass by the sentries, and to partake of the enjoyment in the celestial world.

The sunbeams of a cloudless summer shine upon thy head; and thy foundations are firmly laid among the everlasting mountains.

As eternity is greater than time, so art thon greater than the dwelling-places of men; for thy covenants shall endure for ever and ever.

The rocks that are hewn to build thy courts are more precious than the jewels of a royal crown; for their utility will endure to all generations.

The living and the dead look for thy completion. My forefathers and my children’s children shall rejoice in thy ordinances.

The angels of God shall stand by thy altars, and the Holy One of Israel shall fill thee with His glory.

1857

 

Priesthood service blesses Church members and their families.

The third category of restoration in the lesson is priesthood authority, which, different from most other denominations of Joseph Smith’s day, is available to most male Church members. This more democratic view of priesthood puts the use of the priesthood into more frequent contact with church members. As a result, how LDS poetry discusses the use of priesthood is quite different from in other traditions.

The author of this poem, Ouida Johns Pedersen, here honors her father’s use of the priesthood during her youth. Likely named for the author Ouida (best known for the sentimental children’s book A Dog of Flanders, which draws thousands of tourists to Flanders each year), she immigrated with her family to Utah from her native England in 1923 when she was six.

 

That Thy Days May Be Long

by Ouida Johns Pedersen

I think of father voicing family prayer

From childhood days, when, chin upon the chair,

I knelt. Petitioning in time, for us, became

Jacob’s ladders reaching to God’s name,

Testaments of light. Bibles of spark,

To kindle our own fires against the dark.

How humbly he used the Priesthood’s power;

When we were ill, he gently brought to flower

Our budding faith, to us made clear

Each sacred ordinance; made us revere

Doctrines of worship, covenants of truth.

The iron rod to guide us in our youth.

When settling his tithes, he often said,

“The body needs to buy the spirit bread.

The Lord has given us a chance to give

In gratitude.” Oh, may I ever live

That scriptures of service, records of joy, my song.

Shall honor him. May both our days be long

1961

 

Obeying God’s word through His prophets will give me divine protection.

The final category of the restoration is Prophets. As with the restoration itself, the value of a prophet is frequently mentioned in LDS poetry, often in personal memories or encounters with prophets. Since the phrase “follow the prophet” is a key touchstone in LDS culture, its interesting to see it appear in some of our early poetry.

The take on prophets in the following poem is unusual. I’m not sure who “D. W.” is — whoever it is appears frequently in the unauthorized hymnal published by David Rogers White in 1838. Here the prophet is less an office than a role that everyone can take for themselves—since anyone who receives God’s word is filling the role of a prophet, but only for themselves, not for others. Regardless, this view is not standard today.

 

Sinners obey the Gospel word

by D. W.

Sinners obey the Gospel word,

Believe the message from the Lord,

Repent, and be baptised as soon

As to the water you can come.

And wash away your sins and live,

And then the holy ghost receive,

It will into all truth you guide,

And keep you near the Saviour’s side.

It brings past things fresh to the view,

And things to come, it shows them too;

It is a comforter to all,

Who do obey the heavenly call.

A prophet then you may become,

Yea more, a daughter or a son,

This power is proffered by the lord,

And published in his holy word.

1838