Another parallel between the word of God and the covenant people

14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever. (2 Nephi 29)

Writing about the miraculous preservation of a remnant of Joseph of Egypt's coat (see here) got me thinking about the verse above.

The preservation of the coat is a symbol of both the promises made by God about His seed and also about His word. Both would be miraculously preserved by the hand of God until the day comes when they shall be gathered in one. We live in the day when that has begun. The covenant people are the ones who make sacred promises to live by the word of God. Both are miraculously preserved by the Word of God, who came into the world to be a light unto it.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1)

In this post, I will review some of the key verses which detail how these promises are written about in the Book of Mormon.

The Words of Jacob/Israel

Here are the words of Jacob as quoted by Moroni as he rallied an army (by covenant) to defend the liberty of the Nephites:

24 Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.

25 Now behold, this giveth my soul sorrow; nevertheless, my soul hath joy in my son, because of that part of his seed which shall be taken unto God.

26 Now behold, this was the language of Jacob. (Alma 46)

(The phrase "taken unto himself" in red is interesting and related, but outside the scope of this post, It will be the subject of a post in the next few days.)

Notice how Israel describes the remnant: "preserved and not decayed." He prophesies that the same will happen to a remnant of his son's seed.  What will make the difference between decaying and being preserved?  The word of God, of course. Having it and "keeping" it. In a magnificent and directly relevant sermon to his son Joseph, Lehi teaches this very clearly:

23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book. (2 Nephi 3)

As I read the words of Joseph of Egypt in Alma 46, I was immediately reminded of two key phrases in the Book of Mormon which revolve around the same theme, which equally apply to the people of God and the word of God and which have been the subject of several previous posts:

• "Kept and Preserved" (see this post)
• "Retain their Brightness" (see this post)

"Kept and Preserved"

Summarizing from the post linked above, we find various contexts in which the phrase "kept and preserved" appears in the Book of Mormon:

• the plates of brass (see Mosiah 1:3-5, Mosiah 28:11, Alma 37:3-4 and 14)
• the plates of Nephi (see 2 Nephi 25:21, Mosiah 28:11)
• righteous leaders (see Mosiah 2:11)
• God's people (see Omni 1:6, Mosiah 2:20, Mosiah 7:20, Alma 9:22, Alma 44:4)
• the Urim and Thummim (Mosiah 28:14)

The express purpose of the word of God is to bring about covenants (see 1 Nephi 13:40-41), thereby creating a covenant people.  Keep in mind that the word of God goes far beyond the written word.  It includes all that is necessary to walk to the tree of life.

"Retain their brightness"

Another phrase/symbol that can be applied to the word of God and the people of God is the concept of brightness. 

• Nephi's brother Jacob knew the things which were written upon plates "must remain" (Jacob 4:1), whereas anything written "upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away."
• Lehi, upon receiving the plates of brass, states: "these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time." (1 Nephi 5:19)
• King Benjamin says this about the words he was commanded to deliver to his people by an angel: "They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day" (Mosiah 3:24)
• Alma-2 tells his son Helaman that "if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ." (Alma 37:5)

Conclusion

This promise given by God to the ancient patriarchs underscores the intimate connection between God's covenant people and His word.  The connection between covenant-making and the scriptures is emphasized in our modern temples, too, in several important ways. I'll close this post with a prophecy of Joseph in Egypt about a Latter-day Joseph who restore this everlasting covenant to the earth and begin the final gathering of Israel:

7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers. (2 Nephi 3)

Examples of thematic repetition in Mosiah -- part 1

Stisa's recent series of posts about thematic repetition in scripture (here, here, and here) got me thinking.  As I recently re-read the Book of Mosiah, I couldn't help but see numerous examples, which I'll lay out in two posts.

We already know a lot about the complexity of the Book of Mosiah, so this added layer of subtle thematic repetition is just another layer to learn from. We'll start with a long example.

Example #1: Limhi's speech and Benjamin's speech

Shortly after the account of Benjamin's speech and covenant-making with his people(s), we switch to the account of Limhi and those Nephites who had departed Zarahemla years earlier to reclaim the land of their first inheritance. I noticed two specific details about Limhi's speech to his people which seem to echo the description of Benjamin. 

I can think of two reasons for Mormon to link these two accounts:

1. Limhi's people will later re-unite with the main body of Nephites ruled by Mosiah-2 in Zarahemla.
2. Limhi's leadership mirrors aspects of Mosiah-1's leadership in taking a group of Nephites away from danger in the land of Lehi-Nephi to "go down" to Zarahemla.

The first set of overlapping details is found in Mosiah 7:17 --

17 And now, it came to pass on the morrow that king Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people, that thereby they might gather themselves together to the temple, to hear the words which he should speak unto them.

Compare this to Mosiah 2:1 --

1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.

Three common details are shared in the matching verses, which read very closely to one another.

We also get this set of details in Mosiah 8:4 --

4 And it came to pass that after he had done all this, that king Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that they should return every one unto his own house.

This matches up with Mosiah 6:3: 

3 And again, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of all these things, and had consecrated his son Mosiah to be a ruler and a king over his people, and had given him all the charges concerning the kingdom, and also had appointed priests to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made, he dismissed the multitude, and they returned, every one, according to their families, to their own houses.

Here we again find three very similar phrases in common between the two passages, in the same order, albeit with some additional details given in King Benjamin's account.

The second set of details is especially interesting because it appears right after Ammon is invited to rehearse the words of Benjamin (see Mosiah 8:2-3). This is yet another link between Limhi and Benjamin, and shows Limhi to be in harmony with Benjamin's teachings.

One final link between the two stories is that Limhi asks Ammon about interpreting the Jaredite records they found. Ammon refers him to Mosiah-2 (Benjamin's son), and Limhi rejoices and gives thanks to God:

19 And now, when Ammon had made an end of speaking these words the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men. (Mosiah 8)

This is quite reminiscent of Benjamin's words to his sons:

5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct. (Mosiah 1)

The Lord's course is one eternal round. It seems Mormon was able to embed an additional layer of teaching into his abridgement by intentionally creating links between certain accounts. These deeper messages would be apparent once the connection was found. In this case, the deeper message seems to be: "Even those who separated themselves from the covenant people have access to the blessings of the covenant if they hearken to and believe the words of faithful messengers sent to reclaim them from bondage."

In the next post I'll outline several more examples of thematic repetition.

"Kept and preserved"

One of the many beautiful symbols of God's work is that of gathering.  It's a concept that President Nelson recently acknowledged studying throughout his time as an Apostle.

I love the concept, too.  There is so much to learn about it, and so many deep related concepts.

One of these is that in the latter days, the word of God will be gathered in order to gather Israel.  Stisa has posted about this on several occasions, most notably here. 

The angel's words to Nephi sum up the purpose of the gathering of the word. The records "shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved. And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb..." (1 Nephi 13:40-41)

Kept and preserved

If the purpose of the records is to bring about the grand latter-day gathering of Israel, then it's no wonder they must be preserved for that purpose. 

I was reminded of this beautiful doctrine as I studied the phrase "kept and preserved" in the Book of Mormon.  Notice what is explicitly described as having been "kept and preserved" by the Lord:

• the plates of brass (see Mosiah 1:3-5, Mosiah 28:11, Alma 37:3-4 and 14)
• the plates of Nephi (see 2 Nephi 25:21, Mosiah 28:11)
• righteous leaders (see Mosiah 2:11)
• God's people (see Omni 1:6, Mosiah 2:20, Mosiah 7:20, Alma 9:22, Alma 44:4)
• the Urim and Thummim (Mosiah 28:14)

We could lump these into two big categories:  God's people and God's word (including the records, the seers, and the instruments given to seers).

More examples of internal consistency

For those interested, a lot of examples of internal consistency have been collected in a series published at the FairMormon blog. Many of them are based on posts on this blog. An arc graph gives an overview of all the references. Here is a link to the last episode. The final graph looks pretty amazing as a representation of details that Joseph Smith would have to keep in mind if he had authored the book. But the series of 120 examples are by no means complete. I picked up a few more during my recent studies.

The covenant of the freemen

Alma 51 tells about contention among the Nephites, because some people didn't want Pahoran as Chief Judge. In verse 6, we read

And those who were desirous that Pahoran should remain chief judge over the land took upon them the name of freemen; and thus was the division among them, for the freemen had sworn or covenanted to maintain their rights and the privileges of their religion by a free government.

6 years and 5 chapters earlier, Moroni raised the title of liberty. In Alma 46:20 we read

Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

Another aspect of that covenant is described later in Alma 46:35

And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites that would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom, that they might maintain a free government, he caused to be put to death

The covenant that the freemen had sworn, as described in Alma 51, is likely a reference to Alma 46 and means that they had been among the people that "came running together" in Alma 46:21 to support Moroni's cause and entered into this covenant. 6 years later when their freedom came into question again they remembered the covenant they had made and stayed true to it.

The city of Moroni

Another example from Alma 51

Behold, it came to pass that while Moroni was thus breaking down the wars and contentions among his own people, and subjecting them to peace and civilization, and making regulations to prepare for war against the Lamanites, behold, the Lamanites had come into the land of Moroni, which was in the borders by the seashore. (Alma 51:22)

This implies that Moroni is located

1. Close to the borders of Lamanite lands or the wilderness between the Nephite and Lamanite lands
2. By the seashore

This is consistent with Alma 50:13

And it came to pass that the Nephites began the foundation of a city, and they called the name of the city Moroni; and it was by the east sea; and it was on the south by the line of the possessions of the Lamanites

Yes, these verses are only one chapter apart. But with all the other geographical details in these chapters, it is not easy having to remember so many of them to ensure consistent references.

Zarahemla, the person

The city of Zarahemla can be considered the Nephite capital, although the Book of Mormon does not use that term. From the Book of Mosiah until it is burned in 3 Nephi 9, Zarahemla is where the King/Chief Judge lives as well as the High Priest over the church / the keeper of the plates of Nephi. In Mosiah chapter 7, Ammon is described as a descendant of Zarahemla in verses 3 and 13. 86 modern chapters later, in Helaman 1:15, there is another man described as a descendant of Zarahemla. Evidently, there is not just a city of Zarahemla but also a person called Zarahemla. In the dictation sequence by Joseph Smith, starting with the Book of Mosiah, there has been no mention of a person called Zarahemla, even though the Book of Mormon mentions it in passing as if the reader already knows. 

In fact, the reader does already know because the Book of Mormon is written in a different order than it was dictated. The person, Zarahemla, is only mentioned in the Book of Omni, the last or second to last book in the dictation sequence. But in the reading sequence, this mention of Zarahemla comes before the description of people descending from him. Here it is

Zarahemla did rejoice exceedingly, because the Lord had sent the people of Mosiah with the plates of brass which contained the record of the Jews. (Omni 1:14)

When Mosiah-I and his people found the people of Zarahemla, Zarahemla himself was living among them probably as their leader. When they merged and Mosiah became their king, "the people of Zarahemla" is sometimes used when needed in the Book of Mormon to distinguish the part of the people led by Zarahemla before this merge. This sparse information about Zarahemla, the person from the Book of Omni, is all we have (the 116 lost pages probably contained more information). But this example of internal consistency is another demonstration of how the dictation sequence would complicate things if Joseph Smith made this whole thing up. I would like to hear the critic's theories of why Joseph Smith made it more difficult for himself and willingly increased the risk of running into contradictions when he had no apparent reason to.

Another story told twice

This post explains that because the Book of Mormon sometimes jumps back in time to follow different groups of people, there is sometimes overlap and the same story gets told twice. Another example is the story of Ammon and King Limhi (not to be confused with another Ammon and King Lamoni).

In Mosiah 7, Ammon and his group, leave Zarahemla to look for the Nephites who left a few decades earlier, led by Zeniff (incidentally the other story told twice that I posted about). He meets the present king in the land of Nephi, whose name is Limhi, the grandson of Zeniff. In Mosiah 8, Limhi tells Ammon about a group that went looking for Zarahemla, but got lost in the wilderness and found a land with "dry bones" and old records that they brought with them. When this conversation ends, we are brought back in time in Mosiah 9-21 to read about Zeniff and everything that happened up to the point when Ammon got there.

What I find pretty neat is how Mormon in Mosiah 21 brings us back to the conversation between Ammon and Limhi after having repeated briefly some of the elements that led to this meeting. In the table below we see how the detailed version is given in Mosiah 7 and 8 and how Mormon repeats the main elements of the story in Mosiah 21, but also adds a few details. For instance, he says that Limhi first thought that Ammon and his brethren were the priest of Noah, which explains why he treated them the way he did in Mosiah 7. But this detail would just not have made sense in chapter 7 because Noah and his priest had not been introduced yet.

The repetition that we see in the table below is an example of an old literary device called inclusio, framing the whole side story about the Nephite group who inherited the land of their fathers far away from the main body in Zarahemla.

This is just another example of the complexity of the Book of Mormon text.

Mosiah 7 7 And behold, they met the king of the people who were in the land of Nephi, and in the land of Shilom; and they were surrounded by the king’s guard, and were taken, and were bound, and were committed to prison. 8 And it came to pass when they had been in prison two days they were again brought before the king, and their bands were loosed; and they stood before the king, and were permitted, or rather commanded, that they should answer the questions which he should ask them. 9 And he said unto them: Behold, I am Limhi, the son of Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, who came up out of the land of Zarahemla to inherit this land, which was the land of their fathers, who was made a king by the voice of the people. 10 And now, I desire to know the cause whereby ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself, was with my guards without the gate? 11 And now, for this cause have I suffered that ye should be preserved, that I might inquire of you, or else I should have caused that my guards should have put you to death. Ye are permitted to speak… 14 And now, it came to pass that after Limhi had heard the words of Ammon, he was exceedingly glad, and said: Now, I know of a surety that my brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla are yet alive. And now, I will rejoice; and on the morrow I will cause that my people shall rejoice also… Mosiah 8 6 Now, as soon as Ammon had read the record, the king inquired of him to know if he could interpret languages, and Ammon told him that he could not. 7 And the king said unto him: Being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that forty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla, that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage. 8 And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel. 9 And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold... 13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer. 14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God

Mosiah 21 22 And it came to pass that there was no more disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi, even until the time that Ammon and his brethren came into the land. 23 And the king having been without the gates of the city with his guard, discovered Ammon and his brethren; and supposing them to be priests of Noah therefore he caused that they should be taken, and bound, and cast into prison. And had they been the priests of Noah he would have caused that they should be put to death. 24 But when he found that they were not, but that they were his brethren, and had come from the land of Zarahemla, he was filled with exceedingly great joy. 25 Now king Limhi had sent, previous to the coming of Ammon, a small number of men to search for the land of Zarahemla; but they could not find it, and they were lost in the wilderness. 26 Nevertheless, they did find a land which had been peopled; yea, a land which was covered with dry bones; yea, a land which had been peopled and which had been destroyed; and they, having supposed it to be the land of Zarahemla, returned to the land of Nephi, having arrived in the borders of the land not many days before the coming of Ammon. 27 And they brought a record with them, even a record of the people whose bones they had found; and it was engraven on plates of ore. 28 And now Limhi was again filled with joy on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon also did rejoice.

Internal consistency and the "Hill north of Shilom."

In Mosiah 11, we are given a detail about the "Hill north of Shilom":

13 And it came to pass that he caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom; and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land;

This detail is internally consistent with another mention of that same area:

4 And now, they knew not the course they should travel in the wilderness to go up to the land of Lehi-Nephi; therefore they wandered many days in the wilderness, even forty days did they wander.
5 And when they had wandered forty days they came to a hill, which is north of the land of Shilom, and there they pitched their tents. (Mosiah 7)

The area north of the hill that the people following Mosiah came to as they fled to Zarahemla is the same place the wandering Nephites ended up when they came in search of Zeniff's group.

Something about the natural geography of that area brought both groups to the same spot.

April 27–May 3. Mosiah 7–10: “In the Strength of the Lord”

Here are additional resources from this blog to help you in your Come, Follow Me studies this week.

Link to the Come, Follow Me lesson.


Mosiah 7 -- Physical deliverance in the scriptures as a metaphor for spiritual deliverance, The significance of 'east', "Cunning"


Mosiah 8 -- A note about long side stories, "Dry Bones," King Mosiah as a seer


Mosiah 9 -- A story told twice, A note about transitions to first person, Consistent geography


Mosiah 10 -- "Hard Hearts" and a lack of understanding, Laman's complaints

Physical deliverance in the scriptures as a metaphor for spiritual deliverance

Reading the first paragraph of the upcoming Come, Follow Me lesson for Mosiah 7 reminded me of a story from Alma 20 that I recently saw in a new light.  I'll share both in this post.  These stories illustrate that we can constantly find new layers of meaning in the accounts from the scriptures.

Mosiah 7

The first paragraph of the Come, Follow Me lesson for Mosiah 7 says:

While King Mosiah’s people were enjoying “continual peace” in Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:1), their thoughts turned to another group of Nephites, who many years before had left to dwell in the land of Lehi-Nephi. Generations had passed, and Mosiah’s people had heard nothing from them. So Mosiah asked Ammon to lead a search party to find the Nephites who had left. The search party found that the Nephites, “because of iniquity” (Mosiah 7:24), were in captivity to the Lamanites. But with the arrival of Ammon and his brethren, suddenly there was hope for deliverance. (link)

During a peaceful time, when the people had made covenants for themselves, their thoughts turned to those who had left and might not be feeling the same peace.  I love that concept.  Similarly, we can turn our thoughts to our ancestors, friends, loved ones, and even our future posterity during the peaceful times of our lives.

The Nephites at Zarahelma did something about it. A group of sixteen strong men headed south ("up") to the lands of Lehi-Nephi. Ammon is a leader of this group, and he and a few of his men are initially taken captive by the Nephite king, but eventually they come to a mutual understanding and agree to work together to become liberated.

King Limhi encourages his people with the words below:

O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.
19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them.
20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage. (Mosiah 7)

It's easy for me to frame this story in a covenant context. Ammon and his brethren take advantage of a peaceful time to engage in the work of rescue and bring their brethren out of captivity.

This is not the only time in the Book of Mormon that a man named Ammon rescues his brothers.

Alma 20

I recently mentioned a similar example in a different context in a recent post.

Ammon (son of Mosiah-2) has just experienced tremendous missionary success. Lamoni is eager to introduce Ammon to his father, who is king over all the Lamanites, but Ammon has a different plan.  Following a prompting, Ammon and Lamoni travel to Middoni to free their brothers who have been taken captive by the king of that land.

They are successful in persuading the king of Middoni to release the men. It is interesting to see how Mormon seems to go out of his way to describe the condition of his brothers using the same symbolic language that is used to describe those who have come under Satan's power.

29 And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked (see Mormon 9:5), and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords (see 2 Nephi 26:22). And they also had suffered hunger, thirst (see 3 Nephi 20:8), and all kinds of afflictions (see 2 Nephi 2:1-2); nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings.
30 And, as it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with strong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon. (Alma 20)

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah - Alma 7

Note that several examples of Psalm-language in the Book of Alma have already been referenced in the earlier posts in this series.  It is clear to me that as a keeper of the Nephite records, Alma studied the small plates and when he made reference to the Psalms, he made sure to quote those passages that had already been quoted by Nephi and Jacob.  That's a remarkable detail and I'll dedicate an entire post to in the near future.

In this post, we'll review the next batch of examples of Psalm-language, from Mosiah through the first half of Alma.

Put my trust ... deliver

1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: (Psalm 7)

20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. (Psalm 25)

1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. (Psalm 31)

See also 1 Chronicles 5:20; Isaiah 57:13; Jeremiah 39:18.

33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage. (Mosiah 7)

See also Mosiah 29:20, Alma 36:27; 38:5; 61:13.

Son/s ... this day ... begotten you

7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2)

7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. (Mosiah 5)

At the right hand of God

1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110)

9 And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ. (Mosiah 5)

Break ... bands ... death

14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. (Psalm 107)

8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men (Mosiah 15)

King of all the earth

7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. (Psalm 47)

50 Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men. (Alma 5)

From this time forth and forever

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. (Psalm 113)

See also Psalm 115:18; 121:8.

27 And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen. (Alma 7)

The significance of 'east'

Referring to the Garden of Eden story in Genesis, Alma 12:21 and Alma 42:2 remind us that cherubim and a flaming sword were placed at the east end of the garden, blocking the way to the tree of life. Consequently, the tree itself was located east in the garden and when Adam and Eve were expelled, they went east. We also know from Genesis that the garden itself was east in Eden.

In Hebrew, east is 'qedem' and literally means 'the direction of the rising sun'. The sun as symbol of the celestial/Heavenly Father is not unique to the restored church today. This is also how ancient Israelites saw it. That which came from the east came from God. Usually this was something positive, see e.g. Ezekiel 43:1-4. But it could also be the "east wind" sending destruction over the wicked but was nonetheless from God. This is also an expression we find in the Book of Mormon

Mosiah 12:6

And it shall come to pass that I will send forth hail among them, and it shall smite them; and they shall also be smitten with the east wind

Mosiah 7:31

If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. 

It's not hard to imagine the 'east wind' being associated with something negative when you think about the Old World geography where this expression originated. It's the hot, unpleasant desert wind. The wind from the west, on the other hand, is a cool, humid wind from the Mediterranean.

However, when it comes to movement, going west is always the desirable direction and going east is something negative. This is because the sun moves westwards. If you go east, you go the opposite direction of the symbol of God. Going west you follow the light, so to speak. And most importantly, you go back to the Garden of Eden, back to the tree of life. Being thrown out of the garden was a movement eastwards, going back is a movement westwards. Somewhere in between you need to repent (the word for repent in Hebrew, 'shub', literally means to turn back or return).