2 Nephi 4

(July 25, 2014)

                I felt a great deal of comfort in reading the Psalm of Nephi today.  I can feel like Nephi, right now – pushed to my breaking point, condemned by those who are around me, wondering why some things bother me when I have been blessed so abundantly.  I feel like, with everything the Lord has given me, that the trial I am currently facing should be of no consequence to me – I should be able to overcome it, since I know that He is there and all things happen according to His will.  And yet, I find myself struggling to understand and accept the course of events that has happened recently and to put my trust in the Lord the way that I should.

                I have read this chapter dozens of times, and yet this psalm has never struck me with the force that it strikes me with now.  Only now, when I feel I am in a similar position to Nephi, do I feel the force and see the nuance that Nephi included in this psalm.  Once again, I am struck by how clear it is that Joseph Smith could not have written this book – if I could only understand the psalm when I was in the position of Nephi, only someone in his position could have written the psalm.