Psalms in the Book of Mormon, Alma 26 - 60

In today's post we'll look at the remainder of the Psalm-language in the Book of Alma.

Praise ... his holy name ... forever

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145)

8 Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever. (Alma 26)

Will praise . . . name forever

2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145)

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Alma 26)

Hath been mindful of us

12 The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. (Psalm 115)

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land. (Alma 26)

I will give thanks unto [God] forever

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (Psalm 30)

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen. (Alma 26)

As chaff before the wind

5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. (Psalm 35)

15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind. (Alma 37)

Keep the commandments of my God

115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. (Psalm 119)

34 And now behold, I, Moroni, am constrained, according to the covenant which I have made to keep the commandments of my God; therefore I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men, and also to Helaman. (Alma 60)

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, Jacob

Continuing our series looking at Psalm-language in the Book of Mormon, today we'll look at the Book of Jacob. I noticed a fascinating pattern as I looked into some of these references, which I'll detail in a post in the near future.

As in the provocation ... in the day of temptation ... in the wilderness

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: (Psalm 95)

7 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 1)

The pains of hell

3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. (Psalm 116)

11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death. (Jacob 3)

See also Alma 14:6; 26:13; 36:13.

Swear in my wrath

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (Psalm 95)

7 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 1)

See also Alma 12:35.

Over all His works

9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145)

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works. (Jacob 4)

See also Alma 37:12.

Today if ye will hear His voice ...  harden not your hearts

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: (Psalm 95)

6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die? (Jacob 6)

Edited to include one more, pointed out by Stisa. (Thanks!)

22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. (Psalm 118)

15 And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation.
16 But behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build. (Jacob 4)

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9-33

Jacob and Nephi both referenced the Psalms in their writings.  Today we'll look at the rest of 2 Nephi.

I find it really interesting that although the language seems to come from the Psalms, the usage varies. Nephi isn't strictly borrowing, he is using creative license to make his point while at the same time clearly making a reference to what I believe were well-known Hebrew hymns.  If we think of the Psalms as serving the same function for the Israelites that the hymns serve for us today, this would be like someone paraphrasing a famous hymn lyric but changing it up. For example, if I said, "I stood all amazed when I noticed my dad left me a card." Or "he put his shoulder to the task and pushed along."

I don't exactly know what to make of this, except that I find it very interesting, and Joseph Smith would have needed to know all of the Psalms by heart to accomplish this without notes.

Give Ear To My Words

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. (Psalm 5)

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. (2 Nephi 9)

In the Psalm, the writer is asking the Lord to "give ear." In 2 Nephi, Jacob asks his brethren to "give ear."

The Rock ... of Salvation

7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. (Psalm 62)

26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. (Psalm 89)

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95)

45 O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation. (2 Nephi 9)

Clean Hands ... Pure Heart

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalm 24)

16 And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind—and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things. (2 Nephi 25)

Shall Swallow Them Up

9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. (Psalm 21)

5 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. (2 Nephi 26)

Notice that the Lord does the swallowing in the Psalm and the earth does the swallowing in 2 Nephi.

The Depths of the Earth

20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. (Psalm 71)

5 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. (2 Nephi 26)

The Wicked Will He Destroy

20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. (Psalm 145)

10 For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire. (2 Nephi 30)

Water ... By Night

6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. (Psalm 6)

3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry. (2 Nephi 33)

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi

I've been fascinated recently by the influence of the Psalms in the Book of Mormon.  This paper by John Hilton III is a useful resource.  In this post, I'll begin listing examples of intertextual connections. I will mostly follow the outline given by Hilton in the paper, sorted by order of appearance in the Book of Mormon, with a few comments in between.

I want to make it clear that I'm not really suggesting a "why" or "how" for these connections.  Some people see nothing but plagiarism when they notice similarities between one book of scripture and another.  I see it quite differently -- all of these words belong to God and the Book of Mormon claims to be a gathering of the word of God in one (see 2 Nephi 29:14). However you choose to view these connections, don't let them get in the way of appreciating the beauty of the language.

Tender Mercies

9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145)

20 ...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. (1 Nephi 1)

16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. (Psalm 69)

8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies. (1 Nephi 8)

See also Ether 6:12. There are about a dozen additional references to "tender mercies" in the Psalms.

My Rock and My Salvation

2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. (Psalm 62)

36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation. (1 Nephi 13)

See also 1 Nephi 15:15 and 2 Nephi 4:30. In addition, see D&C 18:17 and Abraham 2:16.

In the Paths of Righteousness

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23)

5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. (1 Nephi 16)

19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7)