D&C 58, 59, 60-66 - Zion and the Sabbath

D&C 58:2-5:

How Firm a Foundation

These next few verses remind me of those words:

1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

2. In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

6. E’en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

D&C 61:19:

It is not clear if this destroyer is an angel of God or a devil. On other occasions when the destroyer is mentioned in scripture, he is a servant of God. The following examples come from Revelations of the Restoration, by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler.

• For example, at the time of the first Passover in ancient Egypt, death was sent to all households that did not have the blood of a lamb upon their doorposts. But faithful Israelites were protected; the Lord promised them that he would “not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you” (Exodus 12:23).
• In our dispensation, when the Saints were being driven from Zion, the Lord declared, “Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage, and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my saints” (D&C 105:15).
• In a similar vein, “angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to” destroy the wicked (D&C 86:5).
• Likewise, the revelation given to John the Beloved, referred to in this section, mentions several angels who send plagues and calamities upon the earth (Revelation 8-10, 15-18).
• Given that the destroyer rides upon the waters by the Lord’s decree, it seems likely that the being seen in vision by William W. Phelps was a servant of God.

On the other hand, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote concerning this decree,

• “These brethren, while encamped at McIlwaine’s Bend on the Missouri, beheld the power of the destroyer as he rode upon the storm. One of that number saw him in all his fearful majesty, and the Lord revealed to the entire group something of the power of this evil personage. It may seem strange to us, but it is the fact that Satan exercises dominion and has some control over the elements. . . . Paul speaks of Satan as the ‘prince of the power of the air.’ (Eph. 2:2.) The Lord revealed to these brethren some of the power of the adversary of mankind and how he rides upon the storm, as a means of affording them protection. They were commanded to use judgment as they traveled upon these waters, and the saints coming to Zion were instructed to travel by land on their way up to Zion. Moreover, notwithstanding the great power of Satan upon the waters, the Lord still held command and he could protect his people whether on land or by water as they journeyed” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:224-25).

D&C 62:3:

President Joseph F. Smith taught: “A testimony of the truth is more than a mere assent of the mind, it is a conviction of the heart, a knowledge that fills the whole soul of its recipient.” (Gospel Doctrine, 364)