VIDEO: Psalms 49-86 | Aug 15-21 | Come Follow Me Insights with GENTRI

Psalms 49-86 | Aug 15-21 | Come Follow Me Insights with GENTRI – powered by Happy Scribe

I’m Taylor. And I’m Tyler. And where’s Central?

This is Book of Mormon central, come follow me. Insights today. Psalm part two.

And we’re doing something out of the ordinary. Ordinary today. We’re in studio with Gentry here in Salt Lake and this is a privilege. Could you introduce yourself?

Yeah, absolutely. Hi, everyone.

I’m Brad.

I’m Casey. And yes, this is where we live.

This is our home.

That’s my bedroom over there.

Well, I’m Bradley Quinn.

And I’m Stephen.

So Taylor is joining us remotely tonight because he has tested positive for covet. This is such an amazing opportunity to be in the studio with Gentry to talk through and let them share some beautiful music as we discuss Psalms 49 through 86. You’ll notice as we get into these psalms how you can feel coming off the scripture page, these ancient writers, even though we don’t have any of their music, we don’t have any other tablet or we don’t know what exact their instruments and their melodies and harmonies sounded like. But you can feel this universal language of music coming out of the page because there are times when words alone just don’t do it. They don’t communicate that depth of the human experience, whether it be remorse, regret, frustration, difficulty, confusion, or praise and conviction to the Lord. So it’s a unique opportunity to be here as you’re going to add music that we can relate to today, to some of these beautiful concepts in antiquity. So, again, thank you.

Yeah, it’s our pleasure.

So let’s jump in. Chapter 49. If you look at a couple of these verses here, verse six, for instance, it says, they that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. It’s this amazing concept in this world that we live in, this fallen condition, sometimes we put a lot of trust in that money and we put a lot of energy to gaining that money. You’ll notice the conclusion in verse ten, for he sees that wise men die. Likewise, the fool and the British person perish and leave their wealth to others. It’s that idea of you can spend your entire life seeking wealth, but at the end you’re going to die along with everybody else and you leave that wealth to others. So what an amazing thing to devote a life to, trying to build up humanity rather than trying to build up my own kingdom.

Yeah, I love that. It reminds me of when I was a kid, just out of high school, I attended this acting school down in Hollywood and had this kind of like really important experience at that age and at that time of my life. And kind of long story short, I ended up leaving the school because I just felt so out of place, uncomfortable. And I felt at the time like I was giving something up, like giving something really important up of fame or success in the industry. Because I had this great opportunity and these great connections. And the scripture that kept going through my mind the whole time was, what does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And that has stuck with me my whole life since then. It doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s a pursuit of success in an industry or money or whatever it is, our focus should be on the things of salvation and not the world. It’s hard to do.

I love that. And it is hard to do because it’s such a poll to go after that fame or that money or the honors of the world. But what an amazing thing when you can say I love the Lord more than I love all of these things that the world can offer me. And that’s kind of the essence. As we jump into the Psalms today here in chapter 49. If we jump over to 51, this is a really profound psalm. Listen to these first words have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. You can sense the deep remorse that David fills. We know the struggles that he faced and he’s turning to God. And these words are really powerful. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against Thee. Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest and be clear when Thou judgest. And the rest of this Psalm, he’s pleading for God’s grace to be poured down upon his head and he’s acknowledging, I’ve seriously messed up and I can’t fix this, and nobody on earth can fix this, but I know somebody who can.

And it’s profound to lay these kinds of things at the feet of the Savior and acknowledge his amazing grace.

It’s pretty interesting. Speaking of Amazing grace, when I was in 8th grade, I had just barely gotten into singing and one of the first songs that I learned, it was a duet, it was Me and Another guy was actually a duet version of Amazing Grace. And it was about the same time too, that personally I started to explore God and get to know Him and His Son Jesus Christ going through the seminary program because really up until that point, like, go to church every week you do. You check the boxes, basically. Let’s be honest, your parents kind of made you do. But now it was time to start to learn and discover and to experience Christ and his atonement for myself. When I think about even going back to your comments earlier about wealth, we search our whole lives. I feel like it’s a constant journey of trying to feel fulfilled and satisfied. I think there’s a reason that we all chase the things of the world because for a moment they do satisfy in that instant it’s just enough that we feel like oh that felt good and then eventually it goes away which it always blows my mind like the super wealthy people of the world they’re never content.

Like at what point do you have enough?

When have you arrived?

Yeah right. But they just can’t and it’s just this insatiable appetite and yet the most humble, the most meek before God can be completely content. As a student at BYU traveled the world and going to the most humblest of places and seeing some of the happiest people I’ve ever met and in contrast being home and interacting with folks that will have more than I could ever hope to seemed empty in some regard is amazing to see that contrast.

Your comment makes me think about Lehigh firstly by the chapter eight he has this dream where he’s wandering this wilderness and he’s seeking God’s loving tenderness these multitude of the tender mercies that we see in first and all of us have these opportunities to experience the goodness in the world but sometimes also experience the darkness and we need God to give us his tender mercies to lead us back into the light and remind us about what really matters. And this phrase that loving kindness could be translated as grace this everlasting free gift that God gives to all of us.

Yeah and it’s fascinating when you tie this in to what you shared as well Brett there’s a line in the song you’re about to sing when we’ve been there 10,000 years it gives us that eternal perspective just the beginning of an eternal perspective and I stop and think about that for a moment from that viewpoint. I don’t know how many people 10,000 years from now are going to look back and say man, I wish I would have earned more money. I wish I would have had more pleasure. I wish I would have taken more vacations. I could be wrong but I don’t think many people are going to be focusing on anything that this world had to offer. But when we’ve been there 10,000 years right shining as the sun we’re not going to get tired of singing his praises we’re not going to get tired of the grace that he offers us not just in this life but throughout the Eternities.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like was lost but now I found was blind but how I see the Lord has promised good to me his word my hope secure he will my shield and portion be as long as life into this flesh and heart shall fare and mortal life shall see I shall possess within

10,000 years bright shining looking at the star we know Jesus days to see God’s praise than when we first how sweet the sound that David all like me was lost but now we’re found was blind but now I see.

Thank you. That was so beautiful. Way more impactful than if you just read the words to that song alone. That music, the piano, the harmonies, the melodies, all coming together. You can see why the Psalms are the most quoted book from the Old Testament and other scriptures because it just connects with a deeper level of our humanity. And that was amazing. Thank you. If you look now in chapter 51, look at verse 15. O Lord, open Thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise, for thou desireest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burned offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. I love that that song that you’re just saying kind of embodies. That whole idea of my heart is broken. I recognize more than ever before who I am, who Thou art and how desperately I need thee.

I just had a thought. I know it’s not Christmas time, but one of the hymns that we sing is in the Bleak Midwinter. And we talked earlier about obtaining things of this world and how we’re all just caught up in this mad dash of wealth accumulation. And yet hearing you say that the one thing that God expects from all of us that is completely within our control, regardless of our socioeconomic state is our heart, the one thing we can actually give him doesn’t matter. Poor, wealthy alike, everyone is capable of that.

And it was Elder Maxwell, wasn’t it, who said, the only unique thing that we actually have to offer on the altar is our heart, it’s our will. And it doesn’t matter your age, your gender, your socioeconomic status, your nationality, your bank account size. We can all try a little harder to do a little better at giving that up. Now, as we skip over a couple of chapters here and skip over to chapter 61, he picks up a different idea here that’s really profound. Listen to this. Hear my cry, o God, attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I for Thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. It’s that idea of God is my refuge, my safety tower and when trouble is coming, I know where I can go. It’s a really beautiful sentiment, especially as we look at the world today with temples dotting the earth and all these safety towers that God has provided for us.

This next song that we’re going to do, it’s interesting. It actually pulls up with that language into the lyrics and it makes me think there was a time in my life when I was a young lad and it was a tough time in my life. I was not going on a great path. I got to the point where I started sort of asking this question of, God, where art Thou? I don’t see you in my life. I can’t feel your presence anymore. And I sort of asked that question, Where are you? And eventually I got to the point where I had kind of a miraculous change of heart and I realized that he was always there. It’s that principle of, it’s not Him that’s turning away. It’s us. And this plea in this song is so beautiful in the sense of guide me to Thee because I know that you’re there and your arms are outstretched and wherever we might be and whatever darkness we might feel ourselves in that he is there. We just need to look and open our eyes and see them.

Jesus might save your truth. Guide me guide me to Thee evening the darkest night as in the morning bride without my beak and light.

Guide.

Me to Thee when tears be dear my night guide me to when silent has brought here call now my trembling is’dear oh. God went all the crush and dead when earthly joy voice hath led thy glory round me shed guide me to Thee let me Thy mercy through let us guide me me to heaven guide me need me to guide me too.

That was beautiful. You can see why the Lord told Emma Smith the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me. It’s remarkable how music just unlocks words and makes them more profound as a connecting point with heaven as well as with each other. It’s almost as if you can hear the angels joining in and adding their testimony to what’s being sung. If you look at a continuation of some of these ideas from chapter 61 into Psalm 62, he says, truly my soul weighteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. I love that sentiment tied into what you just saying.

It reminds me another little story. My wife and I had just gotten married in our first ward and we were going through some of the relationship growing pains that you go through when you first get married and you’re figuring out how to live with another person. And the silverware goes into the dishwasher this way and those Tyler of things really important anyways. There were a lot of those little things, like whether it’s the soapaware, like appliances or the colors of the walls. And we found ourselves arguing all the time and to the point where we went and we kind of talked to our bishop and we’re just like, hey, we just need some advice. We need some help here. And the scripture that he read to us was upon the rock of our redeemer that we lay our foundation. And he’s like, if your foundation as a couple is in, that is, in the Savior, all the other things don’t matter. The colors of the wall, the little knick knacky, things that bother us or whatever, it doesn’t matter. As long as that is solid, you guys will be just fine. And it was really foundational to our relationship.

You mean 10,000 years from now you won’t look back and say, man, I wish she would have done the silverware this way?

It’s interesting too. I’m relating to that because my wife and I now have been married three and a half years or so. But whether it’s from the little things or to the bigger things like purchasing a home and with all the Mary changes that are going on right now with real estate and fluctuations. It’s so imperative that we have that grounded foundation in our Savior Jesus Christ so that we can be like rock steady in the difficult times and have that faith that even through the difficult times we come back to an assure place with Him.

And isn’t that fascinating? The idea of that scripture that you’ll be sure shared with you and that we’ve been talking about here from Healing, chapter five, verse twelve. It doesn’t say, build your foundation upon the rock of the Redeemer and then life’s going to be easy and you’re not going to face adversity or opposition or difficulty. No major storms are coming and they will blow really hard and shafts in the world wind are going to come. But if you’re built on the rock of the redeemer Jesus Christ, you shall not fall. You will survive this and the storms will pass and you’re going to end up being stronger for it. I love that. I love this concept. Yes. And it ties in here beautifully with verse seven and eight. He says, In God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? If Healeman, chapter five, is harkening back to this psalm when he’s sitting there teaching his two sons, it makes you wonder. He’s using some of this wording here. Look at verse eight. Trust in Him at all times, ye people.

Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.

Beautiful.

That kind of reminds me of a personal experience, pouring your heart out to God. Certainly it’s a lot easier to pour your heart out to God when things are going well. But like you said, both of you said that when times get rough, there was a time where I learned the lesson that that’s also an appropriate time and a vital time to share how you feel with God and really being honest with Him and yourself. A couple of years ago we were preparing for an upcoming album, which was prologue, correct?

Yeah.

And I was going to get in the car, and I was headed to a songwriting session, and we weren’t sure what we were going to write yet, but we were just going to go and see kind of what stuck. And I pulled out of my driveway, and I was almost out of my neighborhood when a melody and some lyrics and some other melodies and chords started coming into my head, and I got really excited, especially as a songwriter, especially since my brain was already in songwriting mode. And I thought, this is amazing. A lot of times, songwriting is a very laborous process, and it takes a long time to get past all the bad ideas before you get to the good ones. So when lightning strikes and just something just pours into you, it’s a really big deal. So I pulled over, and I started singing into my phone, and I could just feel the electricity of I knew that there was something special here, and I was really excited about it. So I went from really high to hitting reality and then falling very low again to my previous state, because I remembered that I had been angry at God for a couple of years at that point, and I had a hard time forgiving him.

I felt like he had abandoned me in a couple of issues in my life, and so I knew that this came from God, and I thought I didn’t think it. I yelled it in my car. If this comes with strings attached, I want nothing to do with it. And so if by receiving this, then that is a symbol of my being okay with you or us being on good terms, or me forgiving you can take it back, and we’ll run a different song. But then I could feel a phrase come into my mind where I felt like god was saying to me that I didn’t need to feel any differently, I could stay angry, that there’s no strings attached at all, but instead, he just wanted to give me a message. And it actually took me a long time to receive that message, but even before I was able to receive it and kind of let go and move forward and mend things with God, there’s still something to be said about knowing that he’s watching out for me, and he’s still trying to give me messages to guide me along my way.

I love that as well, because it reminds me that, like you said earlier, he never leaves our side. He never leaves us. He’s always ready next to us, ready to fight with us, to battle with us, to comfort us, to guide us. He’s just the most patient, patient, loving.

Compassionate, and I appreciate that. He let me pound on his chest for a while.

Yeah.

He can handle it. And the song that was pouring into my mind at the time ended up being the song believe which will be singing for you next. And the last part of the chorus in there says, you’re not alone keep holding on and believe.

Beneath an empty cave I long to face somewhere between where I had and where I’m going my search begins deep in my bed I hear and while you feel you’re very deep in ready to lift you up and carry you back to save me you’re brandt Malone. Keep holding on and believe without a keep I take the lead into the darkness deep in my eyes I hear a ringing of that voice ever calling me on believing and

while you feel you’re very deep in our disaster leave more hands away be ready to lift you up and carry you back to safety you’re not alone keep holding on you’re brandt Malone.

One of the amazing things about that song you’re just saying is the word believe is very agency based. It’s very action oriented. It’s not sit back and wait for belief somewhere in the universe to come and hit you and descend upon you and change you. It’s a choice. And the story you shared, Steven, it’s inspiring that God gave that to you, not on a mountain peak of spirituality and connection with God, but in a trough when it’s the very hardest to believe, when it’s so difficult to rely on Him, because you can’t see Him, you can’t hear Him, you can’t see his hand. And for any who are struggling through one of those troughs of life right now, the words to the song are really profound. It’s a choice and we can make it. And quite frankly, I think we stand to gain greater spiritual growth if we can choose to believe when we’ve got nothing to go on, nothing to seemingly hold on to compared to when the sun’s shining, the birds are singing, the angels are almost visible, it’s a profound decision that we get to make.

Reminds me of the quote from President Nelson, the Lord loves effort. As small as it might be, especially in my case, it’s like, just do something. Even in those troughs, even in those low points, just do something. Just try.

Yeah. So that ties in beautifully with Psalm 63. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Does that kind of describe what we’ve been talking about, these troughs to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary, because thy lovingkindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee, thus will I bless Thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips again, these are all choices that we get to make. These aren’t things that are just going to come out of the blue and hit us against our will. These are decisions that we’re making. All right, let’s shift gears over to Psalm 66. Gentry would obviously love this first verse. Make a joyful noise unto God all you end sing forth the honor of his name make his praise glorious so I’m really curious what your experience has been singing in different venues to different audiences, different types of songs.

Well, the first thing I’ll say, I think those joyful noises are referring to three part harmony and not our vocal warm ups.

It could be the furthest thing from.

A Joy of Noise.

You know what’s great about this group in particular is even when we’re not in a spiritual setting or whatnot I think our hearts are still in that same place. We’re offering our hearts on any stage that we’re on. And I think that’s what makes it so special to be a part of this group. And wouldn’t you say the same?

Yeah, I remember where were we where that gentleman came backstage and he was so moved by our song, one Arkansas. Yeah, I remember him just coming back and had tears in his eyes and he was just so impacted by the song that we had written. And it’s not a religious song, so to speak, but to your point, I think because of our convictions and our foundation in Christ we approach everything we do with that same spirit. And I think that it reaches people. But that being said, singing some of these hymns is so satisfying to us. I think maybe that’s why one of the reasons we love Christmas, we love.

Christ because it’s the one time of.

Year where the whole show could be that. And it’s totally fine. People just are okay with it.

That’s what they came to hear. They want it.

These guys have heard this story before, but back in 2008, I participated in a regional production of probably a lesser known musical unless you’re really into musical theater, called Civil War. And what was particularly interesting about that besides just the opportunity to tell the story of a really important part of our country’s history the star actor in that production was Meryl Osmond, one of the original Osmond brothers. And it just so happened that I was in the same dressing room as him. Him and probably four or five other guys. And when you do a show, as we know, over the course of months and months you get to know the people in your dressing room very well because you just talk about everything. And one day Meryl turns to us, just out of the blue. I think another song or part of the show was going on. We just happened to be in our dressing room, and he’s like, do you guys know why music is so powerful? As someone who’s been in the industry for 50 years, I’m sure you could tell us. And he said it’s because it has the ability to bypass the conscious and speak directly to the subconscious.

And as we were forming the group and trying to decide our brand, our image, the things we want to sing about and write about, that quote moment with Meryl instantly came back. And I think the reason is because as an artist, as a musician, and frankly, as a human being, as you go out and you present yourself into the world, you are always selling something. And as we kind of realized our responsibility, not even knowing to what degree our music would touch people, was it going to go down the street? Was it going to go around the world? We had no idea. But what we did know is that we had a responsibility to put out into the world something good, something uplifting, something edifying. Or as we talked about earlier in the conversation, something that could nourish the soul, that could fulfill and keep someone seeking that light. Satiated.

I love that, Brad. It reminds me of this idea that you had brought up earlier from in the bleak midwinter of what do I have to give him? God’s given you a gift. And it’s amazing to watch as people recognize gifts given by God and they place them on the altar with no strings attached from our end to say, Lord, I’m giving this. Take it, touch it, make it shine, do whatever you want with it. And in the process, he multiplies the harvest. He touches lives and goes deep into hearts where none of us can ever hope to touch. He does through that consecrated effort. It’s beautiful.

Yeah. He touches our hearts and we begin to stir. And I’ll speak for myself, but I think you guys can probably agree that we’ve each individually felt the stirring power of the atonement in our lives, which has caused us to just want to sing and share that redeeming love and the change within us that has occurred. And so I love that it says it so many times in the scriptures to sing that song.

Yeah. How can I keep from seeing? How can I keep from seeing which you let us into Psalm 69. Very beautifully verse one. This whole psalm is a very poignant, messianic psalm where David is writing, but it’s almost as if these are the words of the Savior himself. Listen to this save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. We now get into this segment here where you can picture the agonies of the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ, the price, the terrible price that he had to pay for us. Listen to these words I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried, my eyes fail while I wait for my God. You can almost hear that plea from the cross. My God. My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now we jump down to verse 20. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gulf for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

I guess the point here is if we ever get into a stage of life where we feel cut off from God, where we feel forsaken, left alone, abused by the world, there really is one person who fully gets us, who completely understands what we’re going through because of what he endured in his infinite atonement and those agonies. It’s that heartfelt plea of, o God, where art Thou? And where’s the pavilion that covers the hiding place? I need thee desperately now and the song that you’re going to sing now, I think encapsulates that idea profoundly.

The Lord is on thy soul

thy heaven will lead need to watch for them like our dust undertake

we shall meet.

That song means a lot to me. I’ll never forget day two of my mission down in Brazil. You know, you get to that point where you spent two months in the MTC and you’re like, Let me go to Brazil. I’m ready. Let’s go. And then I got to Brazil and thought, what in the world have I gotten myself into? How do I get back to the MTC? I’d much rather go back. And it was painful as I had two years staring me in the face at that point. And I’ll never forget that day. Two days in with serious heartache and homesickness and struggle, thinking, I can’t do this. And my companion, Elder Pratt, was the Zone leader, and he had to go in and get on the phone to call all the members of the Zone to get the numbers. And he told me, you can go into the chapel and study, read your scriptures. I went to the piano and I sat down and I poured my heart out to God. And this was one of the songs that I played repeatedly, and it was sav to my hurting soul at that point, and it gave me that strength.

Be still, my soul. It’s going to be okay because you’re not alone. The Lord is on thy side. And such a profound sentiment that has gotten me through not just that experience, but countless other times in my life. So thank you. Song means a lot.

I just think that’s a beautiful reminder as well for the future, because things aren’t going to get easier, in my opinion. So to remember that we can find.

Calm in the storm, I mean, I haven’t passed through those experiences. And now it’s smooth sailing. When I tell myself, yeah, that line in that song to guide the future as he has the past, he gives us those anchor points in the past to buoy up our faith and our hope and our trust in Him. Because we know there’s stormy water ahead, there are difficulties ahead. Now we jump over to Psalm 77. And it’s an interesting psalm because every once in a while scripture writers will shift into this asking rhetorical questions or asking you to contemplate some things. But they do it in sometimes the negative perspective so that you see the struggle of humanity from a different angle. Listen to these words I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice. And he gave errand to me in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My sore ran in the night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted. And so it’s this idea of everything’s great, right? Well, then something shifts. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I call to remembrance my song in the night.

I communed with my own heart and my spirit. Mary diligent search. So now it’s this soul searching element that is loaded with questions. Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail forever more? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he and anger shut up his tender mercies? So it’s this whole series of questions like, am I going to be okay? And then he answers. And I said, this is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High every time in Scripture, special ancient Scripture, where it refers to the right hand of the Lord. It’s always an extension of God’s mercy, his kindness, his loving tenderness. If it’s his left hand, that’s punishment, that’s justice, that’s judgment. You don’t want the left hand if the Lord taps you on the shoulder. You want to turn and hope to see his right hand. And that’s his response here. Now look at verse eleven. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. Don’t you love that, how he says, if you’re struggling right now, maybe the way that you can steal your soul is to look to the past and to look for the hand of God where he’s guided you in the past and it’ll strengthen you for the present and prepare you for the future.

I love that. I was actually just talking with my wife about this the other day that it’s so easy to forget when we’re not keeping sort of the past in our present mind and what we’ve learned in the past and the spiritual experiences that we’ve had in the past, they leave our memory. They no longer have influence on us. And so I think that’s what we were talking about in the context of journal writing and keeping a record and how important that is because we just tend to forget and yet we can benefit so much from what we’ve already come through and the trials we’ve come through and gotten through and all those things.

I’m not exactly sure how to communicate this, but this concept of that where his sons and daughters is a powerful one to remember because we’re ever learning, ever growing. And I think I bring that up because I think when we look to the past, sometimes it’s not always bright. And again, I’m not sure how to communicate this, but there’s Fatherlessness in the world today. And I think sometimes we view our loving Heavenly Fathers through the lens of our earthly Father. Now. I have a wonderful father. He is an amazing person, amazing dad, but he’s not perfect. And I’m not perfect. But I guess what I’m trying to say is our Heavenly Father is perfect in his love for us and in his patience for us and in the way he teaches us. So just remember that even if our past isn’t bright and we can always learn from it, but sometimes the past doesn’t give us strength, but we can turn that into a strength with the Savior.

It reminds me of something that s Michael Wilcox said about how the Lord takes the negatives and turns them into positives. It’s like even the negative things we go through, when we stick with God, when we don’t give up on God, he will take all those negatives and turn them into positives. And yeah, it’s a huge blessing, which.

By the way, we’re talking about God, the ruler of the universe here, who has infinite capacity, infinite power. He could make our lives so easy, so comfortable, so pain free, but he doesn’t. He could take away all doubts, all fears, all anxieties, all diseases, all infirmities of every kind, mental, emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual. He could take them away, but he doesn’t. There’s something that we learn through those difficult experiences, whether they’re in the past or the present or the future, that it’s as if he’s saying, my son or my daughter, I need you to learn some things about yourself, about other people, and most importantly, about me. And the smartest being in the universe has sent us down here and allows us to go through these difficulties. Apparently, that’s the best curriculum for learning those lessons. And it’s this line upon line, step by step, and when we fall and we struggle, even sometimes for years or decades, he seems to be okay with this process because the Lord Jesus Christ has performed that infinite atonement for us to make every wrong right eventually. It may not be today, may not be tomorrow, but we really can sing those words.

Be still, my soul, by God is on thy side. Going to be okay if we stick with Him. Sometimes in life and in our families and in church settings, we speak in a sanitized way of, oh, everything’s good, nothing to see here, everything’s perfect. When in reality, life’s messy and it gets really muddy sometimes. And the past isn’t perfect for everybody. That’s an important reminder to keep in mind.

Without that resistance, there’s no way to gain strength.

A quote that comes to mind is one of my favorites. We all love Elder Holland and the power that he delivers his messages. And one time in one of his talks, he said, sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets. So it was with the best people who ever lived along that.

Yeah, I remember that.

And you think about any of the Lord’s chosen, the prophets, the amazing men and women of the Scriptures, one of the things they all have in common is life was hard, they went through tribulation. And I think that’s just the refiner’s fire. It is a reality of mortality. We were here to learn by our own experience, and it’s just not the same when someone tells you something about how hard something was or how they overcame or how they came to know for themselves. It is completely different to walk through that yourself.

So jumping to our last psalm for today, psalm 86, I think this is a fitting place to end verse twelve. I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name forevermore, for great is thy mercy toward me, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. And then jumping down to verse 15. But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long suffering and plenty of mercy and truth. I love this idea of we could stay in the mire pit of mortality and complaining about how bad everything is. But I love how the psalms keep pulling us up to these mountain peaks of it’s going to be okay. We’re going to get through this because God is on our side and he’s merciful. He’s gracious. And he happens to love you because he’s your father and he cares about you as only a parent can care about a child. This has been a delight. We can’t thank you enough for sharing your time, these beautiful talents with everybody and your testimony of God’s goodness. It’s wonderful to have people that you feel this fellowship in the Lord as we’re all doing whatever we can and whatever capacities we have to be able to help push the work forward and build the kingdom and build people’s faith in God and confidence.

So thank you, sincerity, for joining us for this episode. It’s been a delight.

Well, likewise, thank you for what you guys do. Like you said, we all participate and bring what we have and gifts and talents that we have to do the same thing to push the work forward. So thank you.

We all feel edified with it.

Thank you. So to close off this episode, Gentry is going to sing come, thou fount of every blessing Listen carefully to these words. It’s a powerful way to finish off Psalm 49 86. And we leave this message with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Know that you’re loved.

Count of every blessing to my heart to see my grave streams of Mary call for songs of loudest pray teach me something

here I raise my heaven and I hold my thigh good pleasure her safely to arrive at home she just taught me when a stranger wandering from the fall of God he to rescue me from danger

goodness like a better find my water drinking heart to Thee fro to wander lord. I feel it

like better find my water drinking heart to Thee pro to wonder.