To accompany your Come Follow Me study for August 15-21
In addition to reading these prescribed chapters, you may enjoy:
- The video Come Follow Me 2022 LDS (August 15-21) Psalms 49-86 | Psalms’ Influence at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJTVu5DRWLk
If you would enjoy seeing a Kahoot game related to this material which you could use for your own amusement or with your family or class, click here:
https://create.kahoot.it/share/psalms-49-51-61-66-69-72-77-78-85-86/e54fb542-5bf4-4edb-a7f1-0dff0c40122d. (To use it with a group, after clicking on this link, you will need to log into Kahoot, creating a free account if you have not done so previously, then click on the blue “Start” button.)
Points to Ponder in Psalms 49-51; 61-66; 69-72; 77-78; 85-86
As you did last week, identify the one verse in each listed psalm that you would consider the most impressive to you personally, and briefly tell why.
1. Psalm 49
2. Psalm 50
3. Psalm 51
4. Psalm 61
5. Psalm 62
6. Psalm 63
7. Psalm 64
8. Psalm 65
9. Psalm 66
10. Psalm 69
11. Psalm 70
12. Psalm 71
13. Psalm 72
14. Psalm 77
15. Psalm 78
16. Psalm 85
17. Psalm 86
Other points to consider in this selection of Psalms
18. What does it mean in 50:2 that Zion is “the perfection of beauty”?
19. What does it mean in 50:5 to make a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice?
20. Why does David say in 51:5 that he was shapen iniquity and conceived in sin? Doesn’t that sound a lot like the idea of original sin that Latter-day Saints reject?
21. Why would the Lord want us to be broken-hearted? (51:17) Doesn’t that sound pretty sad? Isn’t this supposed to be a gospel of joy?
22. The heading to Psalm 69 says it is a “messianic psalm of David.” Can you find at least three verses in the psalm which have relevance to the life of Jesus Christ?
Possible Answers to Points to Ponder in Psalms 49-51; 61-66; 69-72; 77-78; 85-86
The following are my selections. I could easily have picked other verses. Your object in this exercise was not to see if you could guess what my choices would be but to make your own selections according to what impressed or inspired you personally.
1. Psalm 49
49:15: The assurance that “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave” becomes ever more wonderful the older I get!
2. Psalm 50
50:5: I like the reminder that those who will be considered “saints” and gathered into the Lord’s kingdom will be those who have made (and kept) covenants with Him by sacrifice.
3. Psalm 51
51:17: I am impressed that the idea of a broken heart and contrite spirit is not simply New Testament doctrine, as one might assume from 3 Nephi 9:20, but was understood by David of old.
4. Psalm 61
61:4: David’s desire to “abide in … [the] tabernacle for ever” is similar to the feeling we can and should have about being in the temple.
5. Psalm 62
62:8: I like the comfort of knowing that “God is a refuge for us” in whom we can “trust … at all times.”
6. Psalm 63
63:1: It is not enough to seek the Lord. We need to seek Him “early.” We need to call upon Him the first thing in the morning. We need to be early to meetings and prompt to obey His commandments. And we need to “thirst” for the things of God, as we would thirst for water in a desert, not simply reluctantly perform our religious duties.
7. Psalm 64
64:10: I love the constant teaching of the scriptures that there is “gladness” and joy in righteousness. Brigham Young taught that a religion that doesn’t make us happy here and now shouldn’t be depended upon to make us happy in the hereafter.
8. Psalm 65
65:4: Another wonderful reminder that if we really love the Lord and understand the purpose of temples, “we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
9. Psalm 66
66:1: My justification for singing in Church. I may not be singing the same notes as everyone else, but at least I’m making a joyful noise!
10. Psalm 69
69:16: A reminder that God is good, generous, and the dispenser of a “multitude of … tender mercies.”
11. Psalm 70
70:5: A reminder that God is our “help and … deliverer” and that it may not be inappropriate for us to invite Him to “make haste” and “make no tarrying,” even as we say “Thy will be done.”
12. Psalm 71
71:15: We should be ready to verbalize God’s goodness and His plan of salvation “all the day.”
13. Psalm 72
72:19: A reminder of that glorious future day when “the whole earth” will “be filled with his glory.”
14. Psalm 77
77:12: A reminder of our need to meditate deeply about God’s work and talk with others about it.
15. Psalm 78
78:4: The importance of teaching our families and friends the faith which has come down to us and share with them the news of the wonderful things God has done.
16. Psalm 85
85:11: Wonderful and oft-quoted passage which reminds us of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon “out of the earth,” as “righteousness” looked down from heaven in the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith.
17. Psalm 86
86:5: God s eager to forgive, not to punish.
Other points to consider in this selection of Psalms
18. What does it mean in 50:2 that Zion is “the perfection of beauty”?
Hugh Nibley noted: “The two words most commonly used to describe Zion are beauty and joy, and the same two words most often relate to heaven and paradise. Beauty comes first, for beauty is whatever gives joy. . . . These are more than figures of speech. As President Joseph F. Smith put it, ‘Things upon the earth, so far as they have not been perverted by wickedness, are typical of things in heaven. Heaven was the prototype of this beautiful creation when it came from the hand of the Creator, and was pronounced “good” [in Journal of Discourses, 23:175].’ There you have the environment of Zion; and for a foretaste of it, all we have to do is go to the canyons and look around us.” (Nibley, Approaching Zion, 7.)
“On August 2, 1831, the day before the Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated land for the future temple in Independence, Missouri, he taught: “The Prophets have said concerning Zion in the last days: . . . When the splendor of the Lord is brought to our consideration for the good of His people, the calculations of men and the vain glory of the world vanish, and we exclaim, ‘Out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God hath shined’ [Psalm 50:2]” (Joseph Smith [manual], 189-90). Chapter 15.” (Quoted in The Old Testament Study Guide: Start to Finish by Thomas R. Valletta.)
19. What does it mean in 50:5 to make a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice?
All covenants we make with the Lord include a promise on our part to keep His commandments, which in one sense could be considered a sacrifice, though the blessings the Lord gives as His part of the bargain far outweigh anything we will be required to give up. This includes the covenant of baptism, the oath and covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the covenants related to the endowment.
In the Gospel Library article “About the Temple Endowment” at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/about-the-temple-endowment/about-about-the-temple-endowment?lang=eng it explains that “In conjunction with these ordinances, you will be invited to make specific covenants with God. These covenants include:
- Law of Obedience
- Law of Sacrifice
- Law of the Gospel
- Law of Chastity
- Law of Consecration
In return, God promises wonderful blessings in this life and the opportunity to return to live with Him forever.”
Only those who make such covenants with God have a claim on the related blessings, including that of being gathered with the saints, as Asaph speaks of in Psalm 50:5.
20. Why does David say in 51:5 that he was shapen iniquity and conceived in sin? Doesn’t that sound a lot like the idea of original sin that Latter-day Saints reject?
Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “No matter what David said, he was not born in sin. The opening verses of this psalm give us the key to the nature of David’s remark [in Psalm 51:5]. …
“In the midst of his sorrow because he violated the moral law, he may have felt his sin keenly and in this manner expressed himself, but this did not make the statement true that his parents were guilty of sin and that he partook of it in his birth. Let it be remembered also that David was speaking only for and of himself, and that his words cannot in justice be universally applied.
“… The first commandment given to Adam was that he and Eve should multiply and fill the earth. After the flood this same commandment was reiterated and was required of Noah and his posterity. To declare that children born in lawful wedlock come into the world through a sinful act, is making our Eternal Father guilty of commanding that a sin be committed, hence he would be a party to the sin” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. [1960], 3:14, 15).
21. Why would the Lord want us to be broken-hearted? (51:17) Doesn’t that sound pretty sad? Isn’t this supposed to be a gospel of joy?
If we think of a heart broken in the sense that a good horse is “broken,” or trained to be obedient to its rider, we are more likely to capture what the Lord wants us to be than if we think of a “broken down” horse.
22. The heading to Psalm 69 says it is a “messianic psalm of David.” Can you find at least three verses in the psalm which have relevance to the life of Jesus Christ?
This is the second most quoted psalm in the New Testament, Psalm 22 being the first. Here are some of the New Testament applications of this psalm to the life of Christ:
- Psalm 69:4 (John 15:23-25): Jesus would be hated “without a cause.”
- Psalm 69:9 (John 2:13-17): Jesus would be moved to “zeal” to cleanse the temple.
- Psalm 69:9 (Romans 15:3): Jesus would suffer by taking upon Himself the “reproaches of them.”
- Psalm 69:21: (Matthew 27:34 and John 19:28-30): Jesus would thirst on the cross and be given “gall” and “vinegar.”
- Psalm 69:22-23 (Romans 11:5-10): Jesus’ persecutors’ actions would be a “snare” and a “trap” for them.
- Psalm 69:25 (Act 1:15-20): Judas’ betrayal of Jesus would result in his losing his “habitation” and his “tent” (or family) becoming “desolate.”