The Book of Mormon quoting Psalms

In Jacob 1:7, we read

Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness.

Jacob is referring to the text in Psalm 95, which reads

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

(For other references to Psalms by Jacob, see here).

We see the same language again in Alma 12:33-37

33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.

36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word

The language is definitely related to Psalm 95, but Alma says this is God calling “on men, in the name of his Son, saying:…”. It does not seem that the original source of this statement is David. Perhaps David and Alma are referring to an earlier source, one that is now lost but existed on the Brass plates? This is of course just speculation. But we see some additional linked themes that are not part of the text in Psalms, such as men being called by God to teach these things to his children and the mercy/atonement that comes through the Only Begotten Son. These, along with not hardening our hearts and entering into his rest are all prevalent themes in the last part of Alma 12 and first part of Alma 13.

Lord Wilmore has already posted a bit on hard hearts recently. I will post some more on “entering into His rest” later.

I used to think that biblical quotes in the Book of Mormon almost exclusively started with something like “hear the words of Isaiah”. But there is a lot weaved subtly into the text.