15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many
of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul
delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for
the learning and the profit of my children.
16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord;
and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of
the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O
wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul
grieveth because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and
the sins which do so easily beset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth
because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through
mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of
the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the
consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of
them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given
me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before
him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered
unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been
carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great
things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not
write them.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in
his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy,
why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my
flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh?
Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my
heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine
enemy?
The tone of Nephi’s record suddenly changes after the death of Lehi and ongoing problems with Laman, Lemuel, and the rest of the usual suspects.
Nephi writes what is one of the most powerful, spiritual,
and beautiful psalms in the scriptures.
This is one of the few times Nephi opens up and lets us see Nephi the
man instead of Nephi the narrator, author, and teacher/preacher.
The passion and poetry of 2 Nephi 4:16–35 cannot help but
move even the most casual reader of the Book of Mormon. These verses record one
of the most powerful personal testimonies ever revealed in scripture with a
tone of prophetic poetry that rivals David, Isaiah, or Luke. In his 1947
monograph Our Book of Mormon, Sidney Sperry christened this passage
"The Psalm of Nephi," and it has carried that epithet ever since.
Sperry recognized in this passage the praise and "deep religious
feeling" common to many psalms and noted within its literary structure a
rhythm "comparable to the noble cadence of David's poems."1
When was this written?
Many Book of Mormon scholars believe it was written after Lehi’s death
and his family problems. If so, this
means Nephi wrote this almost 20 years after they arrived in the Promised
Land.
Nephi did not begin the small plates until roughly 30 years
after they arrived (see 2 Nephi 5:28-29).
If he wrote this as he was writing the records found on the small
plates, he had 30 years to contemplate the events that had occurred.
Nephi begins by telling us what he writes on these plates
are “the things of his soul” (2 Nephi 4:15).
What are the things of his soul? “[M]y
soul delighteth in the scriptures” (2 Nephi 4:15). What he writes he writes for “the learning
and the profit of my children” (2 Nephi 4:15).
16 Behold, my soul delighteth in
the things of the Lord;
and my heart pondereth
continually upon the things
which I have
seen and heard.
(2 Nephi 4:16)
Nephi grieves because of his sins.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding
the great goodness of the Lord,
in showing me
his great and marvelous works,
my heart
exclaimeth:
O wretched man that I am!
Yea, my heart
sorroweth
because of my flesh;
my soul
grieveth
because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about,
because of the
temptations
and the sins
which do so easily beset me.
19 And when I desire
to rejoice,
my heart groaneth
because of my sins;
nevertheless, I
know in whom I have trusted.
(2 Nephi 4:15 - 19)
Nephi writes about the great and wonderful things the Lord
has done for him.
21 He hath filled me with his love,
even unto the
consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies,
unto the causing
of them
to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard
my cry by day,
and he hath
given me knowledge
by visions in
the night–time.
24 And by day
have I waxed
bold in mighty prayer
before him;
yea, my voice
have I sent up
on high;
and angels came
down
and ministered
unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit
hath my body been
carried away
upon exceedingly high
mountains.
And mine eyes
have beheld
great things,
yea, even too
great for man;
therefore I was
bidden
that I should not
write them.
(2 Nephi 4:21 - 25)
Nephi further wrote in his psalm of how "the Lord in
his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much
mercy" (2 Nephi 4:26). Nephi also used the word "condescension"
in his description of his vision (see 1 Nephi 11:16, 26). He tied the
condescension, symbolized by the tree, to "the love of God" (1 Nephi
11:22), and in his psalm he noted that "He hath filled me with his love"
(2 Nephi 4:21). The fact that Nephi employed the word "condescension"
only in describing the vision and in his psalm—and nowhere else—again suggests
that when he wrote the psalm he had the vision in mind.[1]
Nephi asks why?
26 O then,
if I have seen so great things,
if the Lord in his condescension unto the
children of men
hath visited men
in so much mercy,
why should my
heart weep
and my soul
linger
in the valley of sorrow,
and my flesh
waste away,
and my strength
slacken,
because of mine afflictions?
27 And why should I
yield to sin,
because of my flesh?
Yea, why should
I give way to temptations,
that the evil one
have place in my heart
to destroy my peace
and afflict my soul?
Why am I angry
because of mine enemy?
(2
Nephi 4:21 - 27)
“Nephi tells he has found “the answer to the questions ‘Who
are the bad guys? Where is the real enemy?’ In himself. It is his own weakness
that makes him frustrated and angry, he says. Why should he take it out on
others? (2 Nephi 4:26—35).”[2]
The question has been asked, “What was Nephi’s sin?” Matthew Nickerson answers:
“Some writers have identified anger as the specific sin
which ‘so easily beset’ him. Their conclusions are based on 2 Nephi 4:27
where Nephi asks, ‘Why am I angry because of mine enemy’? My own reading of
this passage leaves the exact nature of Nephi’s sin in question. The sentence
quoted above is only the last in a series of self-reflective questions Nephi
poses concerning the effects of his transgression.”[3]
[2] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the
Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[3] Nephi's Psalm: 2 Nephi 4:16–35 in the Light
of Form-Critical Analysis, Matthew Nickerson, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute.
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