Book of Mormon Study: 2 Nephi 1-4, especially Nephi's Psalm

2 Nephi 1: Lehi teaches his sons, and once again, begs his rebellious sons to reconsider their position on spiritual things. In v. 13-14, he says, "O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to teh eternal gulf of misery and woe. Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth."

Lehi is a king of the guilt trip. Man. I know how I would have responded in my more rebellious years. But Lehi just is BEGGING his family to turn to righteousness, to find joy. He is doing all that he can to teach them the things he has spent his whole life learning. A sad chapter. But I do like v. 30-32 where Zoram is called a true friend to Nephi. I'm glad Nephi had true friends.

Chapter 2 is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon (as is chapter 4). I come back to this chapter again and again, to v. 11-16. The discussion of opposition in all things touches on deep eternal laws.

And I also love v. 23: "And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin." Having children equals joy AND misery. True, yes?

Of course, one of the cornerstone scriptures for me is v. 25: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

It's getting late. I'll come back to Nephi's Psalm tomorrow.