LeGrand L. Baker

Category: Psalms

  • Psalms 34:2-22 — LeGrand Baker — the psalm teaches Atonement

    Psalms 34:2-22 — LeGrand Baker — the psalm teaches Atonement

    Many ideas associated with coronation are scattered throughout the psalm. I can most easily point them out by rearranging them and pulling them together into separate categories. My artificial grouping of the following verses is only to point out similarities of ideas, and I apologize for the injustice it does to the poetry.

    For example, there are some lines that speak of the physical senses of both God and man.

    The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
    and his ears are open unto their cry. (V. 15)

    I will bless the Lord at all times:
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (V. 1)

    Keep thy tongue from evil,
    and thy lips from speaking guile. (V. 13)

    This psalm contains many of the same ideas that are found in the Beatitudes and other scriptures.

    This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
    The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
    and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (V. 16-17)

    The Beatitude reads, “Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (3 Nephi 12:3)

    As I understand it, the “poor in spirit” are those who have made the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit. {1}  “Who come unto me” is a reference to one’s being in the place where Christ is. “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” I take it that means the kingdom belongs to them – they are sacral kings and queens.

    O taste and see that the Lord is good:
    blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (V. 8)

    The Beatitude reads, “And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6) This seems to be about the fruit of the tree of life, and the waters of life, and the blessings to those to receive them. One wonders if Alma had his psalm in mind when he said, “…after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? …. And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.” (Alma 32: 35, 40)

    The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants:
    and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. (V. 22)

    In the Book of Mormon, in Job, and in this psalm, the word “redeem” means to be brought into the presence of the Lord (Ether 3: 13-17; Helaman 14:17; 2 Ne. 1:15, 2:2-4; Job 19: 25-26)

    In the Beatitudes the ultimate power and responsibility of kingship is represented in the words, “And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” In the sequences which assumes one has learned how to do that, the next words are, “And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” and “blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (3 Nephi 12:7-9) Being called “the children of God,” corresponds with the royal new name given to the king in Psalm 2 (discussed below). The clearest tie between verses 8 and 9 in the Beatitudes is Ether 3:13-14.

    And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you. Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.”

    Our psalm reads:

    Depart from evil, and do good;
    seek peace, and pursue it. (V. 11)

    The other Beatitude most prominently represented in this psalm is the one that depicts one’s adoption as a child of God, and final coronation to be sacral king or queen. “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (3 Nephi 12:9-10)

    In Moroni 7, Mormon bridges the gap between a peacemaker and being one of whom it can be said with finality: “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    Mormon addresses those who “are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.” I presume that means they have, and can again see their Saviour. He knows this “because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.” He explains that their next steps are to perfect faith (“Now faith is the substance [tangible reality = “assurance”] of things hoped for [the promises the covenant], the evidence of things not seen [the covenant” Hebrews 11:1.]); hope (living as though the covenant were already fulfilled); and charity (the ultimate power that seals the covenant). Then he concludes: “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.”

    ENDNOTE

    {1}   I reach that conclusion by combining two other statements by the Saviour:

    19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled. (3 Nephi 12:19)

    20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not. (3 Nephi 9:20)

  • Jacob 2:12-17 — LeGrand Baker — Psalm 82

    Jacob 2:12-17 — LeGrand Baker — Psalm 82

    Jacob 2:12-17
    12   And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.
    13   And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
    14   And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you.
    15   O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust!
    16   O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!
    17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.

    Jacob is taking this problem of an abundance of wealth, and the consequent inequality which results, very seriously. But it is clear that his message is not primarily economic. Neither is it about looking after the poor. It is much more serious than that. It is about the violence which those who are seeking wealth and status are doing to their own eternal nature. The accusation that some “persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they” can be read as a comment on the problems of evolving social orders, or of the widening disparity of the distribution of wealth, but I don’t think it is about either of these things. I think it is about the canker which is happening inside the people who have designated themselves as the upper class “better sort.”

    Jacob’s words were spoken in the temple, so it is reasonable to place his words within a temple context. If we do that we position his concerns against some of the highest ideas spoken of in the scriptures, such as loving the Lord and his children — charity, or the law of consecration, which I suppose is simply a functional way of describing charity.

    If one is going to place his comments in the context of the ancient temple-related ceremonies, then one must return to the pre-exilic Jerusalem from which Lehi left in order to discover the context in which he was speaking. Jacob himself had never experienced the great festivals at Jerusalem, but his father and mother and older members of the party had. And it is reasonable to assume that those great Israelite festivals were as much a part of Nephite worship as they had been a part of the worship at the Jerusalem temple.

    If the occasion of Jacob’s speech had been the New Year’s festival, then the context of that speech was much broader, and the implications of his warnings much more severe, than they might have been otherwise. If they had just gone through ceremonies in which they had depicted the Council in Heaven, and implicitly, their part in that Council, then what Jacob is saying is if one seeks self-aggrandizement in this world, then one is violating the most fundamental command given at the Council.

    Each year, during their New Year’s festival, the ancient Israelites had an 22 day endowment session. Part of that session was the 7 day Feast of Tabernacles. Apparently, on the second day of the Feast of Tabernacles they saw a play which included a depiction of the Grand Council at which Elohim presided as King/Father, and Jehovah as the president of the Council. The play would continue by also showing the war in heaven, the creation, and the Garden story. Scholars say that the first part of Genesis was either read, or enacted, or both, during that part of the play which depicted the creation and the Garden. It showed Adam and Eve in the garden and then havingtogoaway. Adam took with him two tokens of his priesthood and kingship–his garment and a branch of the tree of life which was his scepter. The play continued to show the passage of time from Adam to Abraham, to Moses, to David and to the present king. Demonstrating that the now reigning king was legitimate in foreordination, genealogy, regalia, and “righteousness.” (All that is in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord)

    The part of the play I wish to call to your attention takes place in the beginning, in the Grand Council. The dialog of that scene is in the 82nd Psalm, and is divided into three parts. The words of the narrator (v. 1), the instructions given by Elohim (v.2-7), then the response of the Council of the gods (v.8).

    Scholars usually read the 82nd Psalm to be a court trial where the King of the Gods is passing judgement on some evil gods who were worshiped by Egyptians and others of Israel’s neighbors, and who had led their worshipers down the wrong paths. That conclusion is drawn by the use of the words “judges among the gods.”But that Hebrew word which is translated “judges” can mean to justify or to choose, as well as to condemn. Since I know of no story in the scriptures where God condemned members of the council for judging the people unjustly, I presume the scholars have misread something. But I do know a story where God justified the gods, chose them, and said “these I will make my rulers.” So I presume it is in that story where the scene of the play which is the 82nd psalm takes place. As I read it, the 82nd psalm can fit into Abraham 3 without even breaking the cadence of thought.

    Psalm 82 can also be read as the Father administering the covenant of the law of consecration to the members of the Council in Heaven.

    If I am correct, then this is part of the story of the “noble and great ones” who are called “gods” in the Book of Abraham. When I first realized that and read it that way, everything changed. The 82nd Psalm became one of the most profoundly beautiful scriptures I have ever read. If I am correct in guessing that Jacob’s speech was given at the New Year’s festival, and that Psalm 82 was enacted as a part of that festival, then the context of Jacob’s speech suggests that Jacob is telling those people that if they continue on the path of self-aggrandizement, they will be violating the most fundamental of the instructions they received at the Council.

    In the first verse of Psalm 82 the narrator explains the scene:

    1   God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

    After that introduction, Elohim (the Hebrew word translated “God,” who, in the ancient Israelite religion is the King and Father of the gods) addresses the gods. He warns them of the dangers they will face when they go down to the world where one of their greatest temptations will be to pay homage to the great, powerful and wealthy, because of their prestige, power, and money. The warning reads:

    2   How long will ye judge unjustly,
    and accept the persons of the wicked?

    Then he instructs them about their assignments. It sounds very much like his instructions to Isaiah (Isaiah 6) where he tells Isaiah what he must do, and also tells him that the people will not listen. This instruction is like that, but it is addressed to all the members of the Council, as though they would each face the same challenges. There are some things which every one must do, no matter what their specific assignments may be:

    3   Defend the poor and fatherless:
    do justice to the afflicted and needy.

    4   Deliver the poor and needy:
    rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

    With those instructions comes the reason: the people on the earth will have also have forgotten their glorious past home in the pre-mortal existence. They will stumble in the darkness of forgetfulness. They must be helped–not just helped, but helped with great compassion.

    5   They know not, neither will they understand;
    they walk on in darkness:
    all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

    Then the reminder that the gods’ own individual experience will be the source of their understanding and of their compassion. They are gods, but they will all die, some like Abinadi and Joseph Smith will give their lives dramatically. (“fall” in battle like one of the princes) Others of the gods will simply use up their lives in the service of their Father’s children. With great compassion the Father says,

    6   I have said, Ye are gods;
    and all of you are children of the most High.

    7   But ye shall die like men,
    and fall like one of the princes.

    Now, in this scene of the play, the gods respond, each having his own assignment, and each

    assuring his Father and King that he will do his own part in order that the Father’s purposes may be accomplished among all people. The gods say,

    8   Arise, O God, judge the earth:
    for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalms 82:1-8.)

    This generic charge given by the Father to the members of the Council may be reduced to a single word, “charity,” or to three words, “law of consecration.” They, in turn are the very foundation of every other commandment talked about in the scriptures.

    It seems to me that what Jacob is saying is this: If you seek wealth in order to establish your social or cultural superiority, you will be in violation of the very reason you came to this earth. Jacob begs his listeners not to hurt themselves in such a useless and unnecessary way.

  • 2 Nephi 9:41-43 — LeGrand Baker — Jacob cites 24th Psalm

    2 Nephi 9:41-43 — LeGrand Baker — Jacob cites the 24th Psalm

    2 Nephi 9:41-43

    41   O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.
    42   And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.
    43   But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

    In the ancient Israelite temple drama, Psalm 21 tells of the king’s approaching the veil of Solomon’s Temple. Here, in verses 41-42 Jacob seems to allude to the same thing (see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord).

    The words of Jacob are full of the same kind of temple imagery and code words which are found in the 24th Psalm, and some that are in the 23rd as well. Before examining the relationship between the psalms and Jacob’s words, lets look closely at the 24th Psalm. It has rightly been called a “temple recommend.” It reads:

    The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof;
    the world, and they that dwell therein.
    For he hath founded it upon the seas,
    and established it upon the floods.
    Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
    or who shall stand in his holy place?
    He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
    who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
    He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
    This is the generation of them that seek him,
    that seek thy face, O Jacob.
    Lift up your head, O ye gates;
    and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
    and the King of glory shall come in.
    Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
    Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
    even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
    and the King of glory shall come in.
    Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD of hosts,
    he is the King of glory (Psalm 24).

    From the days of Gunkel and Mowinckel, biblical scholars have almost universally acknowledged that the 24th Psalm was a part of the Israelite New Year’s festival, and they have pretty much agreed on when and where, during the festival, that psalm was sung (For a discussion of the ceremony and the context in which the psalm is sung, see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord).

    Now, let’s read Jacob’s words in light of the ceremony implied by and anticipated in the Psalms. We will read it as a single unit first, then take it apart phrase by phrase.

    O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous.

    In our time, the first two code phrases used here are so casually used and casually read that they seem to have almost lost the power of their meaning. But the power remains in the scripture, nonetheless.

    The phrase “beloved brethren” connotes a covenant relationship. “Beloved” suggests a covenant made in the bonds of charity (hesed). This is serious stuff. Jacob is evoking the whole breadth of their covenants, and they ( and we ! ) had better listen.

    41b   come unto the Lord, the Holy One.

    The phrase, “come unto the Lord,” or “come unto Christ,” is much over-used and consequently much under-understood. In almost every scriptural context, it is an invitation to come to the temple, but not just to the temple, to the throne room, the place where God is.

    The next code word in Jacob’s sermon is “name.” In the Bible, the 23rd Psalm reads, “He leadith me in the paths of righteous for his name’s sake.” Here, as elsewhere, the word “name” suggests a new name associated with a sacred covenant. An example of such a new name is that one takes upon himself the name of Christ when he is baptized and when he takes the sacrament.

    Jacob’s use of the word “name” suggests the same thing. He wrote: “Remember that his paths are righteous….he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” There is such a close relationship between Jacob’s idea and the sentence in the 23rd Psalm, that one might be justified in suggesting that Jacob is deliberately paraphrasing the Psalm.

    It is within that context, that is between the two phrases I have just quoted, that Jacob describes the “way,” the “gate,” and its “keeper.” He wrote,

    41c   Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

    This use of the word “way” reminds one of the Lord’s promise in Isaiah 48:9-11, and probably also of the Council assignment to John in Isaiah 40:3.

    In the 24th Psalm, the way is the rout followed by the procession through the gates of the city, through the gates of the temple precinct, through the gates of the temple itself, through the veil, and into the Holy of Holies. At each of those four stations, one may say, symbolically the Lord is there. But in the last, in the final analysis, he employs no servant there. He guards the way to the most holy place, “and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” If “name” means here what it means elsewhere, it is the only key which gives one access through the veil and into the presence of God.

    Jacob’s next phrase “And whoso knocketh, to him will he open;” calls to mind the Saviour’s words in the Sermon on the Mount which he also spoke to the people in America: “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” Here again, we seem to be at the gate or the veil which leads into the presence of God, and to the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple.

    Once again Jacob calls upon the idea in the 24th Psalm which asserts that those who may go through the gates are those who, after having been ceremonially washed, and given a pure heart, have not elevated themselves by vain things. (“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, …”) Jacob’s words are more explicit, and precisely to the point: “

    42   …and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches–yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

    Jacob’s final words in this chapter confirm and magnify the temple context of Jacob’s sermon. He speaks of hidden things — and they are hidden, have been hidden from the foundation of the

    world, and ever will be. But what he speaks of as hidden is neither the sequence of the path nor the coronation beyond the veil. Rather it is the eternal consequence of that coronation. He promised:

    43   But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever–yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

    Jacob’s word’s are more than just a challenge, more even, than just a threat, they are a promise of the happiness one can only know when one has walked the full length of the “path” and entered into the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple.