Awake My Soul- The Psalm of Nephi

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Awake My Soul-The Psalm of Nephi

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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LDS Super Bowl Trivia

• Quarterback Sneak
• Ward members quietly leaving before the
  closing prayer.
• Draw Play
• What the kids do with the Proclaimer during
  the Sacrament.
• Sacked
• Being asked to speak in Sacrament meeting before
  you can perform the quarterback sneak...
• Half-time Show
• Watching young mothers chase their toddlers who
  escaped during the intermediate hymn
• Staying in the Pocket
• What happens to tithing that should have been
  paid three weeks ago.
• Two-minute Warning
• Sacrament speaker says, So, In conclusion" and
  you start gathering up your children and sweeping
  up the spilled cheerios.
• Two-Minute Drill
• Comes right after Two-Minute Warning. Its the
  point at which you open the manual and start
  preparing your primary lessons
• Cheerleaders-
• Parents and Grandparents watching their kids
  during the Primary program.
• Instant Replay
• Both youth speakers use the same talk from the
  New Era.
• Sudden Death

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(No Transcript)
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2 Nephi 3

• Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he
  obtained a promise(s) of the Lord, that
• (1) out of the fruit of his loins the Lord
  God would raise up a righteous branch unto the
  house of Israel not the Messiah, but a branch
  which was to be broken off, nevertheless,
• (2) to be remembered in the covenants of the
  Lord
• (3) that the Messiah should be made manifest
  unto them in the latter days
• (which will result in) the bringing of them out
  of darkness unto lightyea, out of hidden
  darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.
• How will this be accomplished?
• For Joseph truly testified, saying A seer shall
  the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice
  seer unto the fruit of my loins.
• and that which shall be written by (this seer),
  and also that which shall be written by the fruit
  of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto
  the confounding of false doctrines and laying
  down of contentions, and establishing peace among
  the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the
  knowledge of their fathers in the latter days,
  and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith
  the Lord.
• And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in
  that day when my work shall commence among all my
  people, unto the restoring thee, O house of
  Israel, saith the Lord.

This described Joseph Smith. Did it also
describe President Hinckley?
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Elder Neal Maxwell

• It was thus also, geographically and
  numerically, on America's western frontier.
  Palmyra was not Paris, and Nauvoo was not New
  York. Nevertheless, Liberty Jail doubtless
  resembled other jails and other dungeons which
  have held other prophets.
• But in the years ahead, as "the ends of the earth
  shall inquire after Joseph's name," Liberty
  Jail will loom ever larger in the spiritual
  history of mankind.

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President Eyring

• The Lord always wants to lead us to
  deliverance through our becoming more
  righteous. That requires repentance. And that
  takes humility
• We might make the mistake of assuming that
  illness, persecution, and poverty will be
  humbling enough. They dont always produce by
  themselves the kind and degree of humility we
  will need to be rescued.
• Trials can produce resentment or discouragement.
  The humility you and I need to get the Lord to
  lead us by the hand comes from faith. It comes
  from faith that God really lives, that He loves
  us, and that what He wantshard as it may bewill
  always be best for us.

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Think for a moment

• Imagine you were to attend a support group for
  people who struggle with problems of
  self-control similar to your own. At the
  meeting, the first person to speak describes
  himself as a religious person who is devoted
  to God but is frequently tormented by
  temptation and sin. He always feels guilty and
  sorry for sinning but finds himself losing
  control again and again in spite of his desires
  for good. Sometimes he becomes discouraged to the
  point where he questions his own worthwhich can
  lead to a mire of negativity and a loss of
  motivation to do good
• Following this introduction, another stands to
  speak. This man describes painful inner conflict
  and turmoil. He, like the first individual, wants
  to serve God but finds himself continually
  falling back into sinful habits. "Despite my best
  efforts, I keep doing what I don't want to do."
• If you were in a meeting hearing these two
  reports, what would you think? Could you relate
  to these people? Who are they then? Wayward
  souls who are hopelessly out of control? Hardened
  addicts who are beyond rehabilitation? Not quite.
  These descriptions are from great prophets of the
  Lord. The first was Nephi, the second Paul the
  apostle.
• A. Dean Byrd, Mark D. Chamberlain, Willpower
  Is Not Enough Why We Don't Succeed at Change,
  149

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Nephi and Humility

• Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great
  goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great
  and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth
  
• O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart
  sorroweth because of my flesh my soul
  grieveth because of mine iniquities.
• I am encompassed about, because of the
  temptations and the sins which do so easily
  beset me.
• And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth
  because of my sins

Why would Nephi, who had already had visions and
seen the Lord, be so worried about his sins and
iniquities?
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Hebraic Parallelism

• And why should I yield to sin, because of my
  flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations,
  that the evil one have place in my heart to
  destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I
  angry because of mine enemy?
• Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.
• Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for
  the enemy of my soul.
• Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do
  not slacken my strength because of mine
  afflictions.
• Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and
  say O Lord, I will praise thee forever yea, my
  soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock
  of my salvation.
• O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul?
• Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine
  enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at
  the appearance of sin?
• O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe
  of thy righteousness!
• O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape
  before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path
  straight before me!