I was reading about the Sabbath day in the Peach My Gospel manual. A reference for the section was DC 59:9-15, as follows:
9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer
15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
This is the common portion we quote. This is the instructional portion. We learn we are to:
- go to the house of prayer...................go to church
-offer up they sacraments ....................partake of the sacrament
-confess our sins to our brethern.............as needed, we don't make a public spectacle and draw a lot of attention to ourselves, we repent quietly and personally
-do none other thing..........................set aside our week day activities
-let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart...............simplicity for our meals
-rejoicing and prayer, thanksgiving, cheerful heart and countenances, not much laughter, glad heart and cheerful countenance...........be happy (simply put)
The verses before these give also a lists of 'commandments':
5 Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him
6 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it
7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things
8 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit
Verse 15 is usually the end of the instruction, yet it begins with the words "inasmuch as ye do these things ...". It doesn't complete the phrase of 'inasmuch.' However, the following verses complete the thought:
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul
20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion
This incredible blessing of the bounty of the earth in exchange for keeping these commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy is profound. We rarely discuss it when we speak of section 59 or of the sabbath day observance. The Lord speaks of the same thing in the beginning of this section.
1 Behold, blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments
2 For those that live shall INHERIT THE EARTH, and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them; and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them
3 Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel; for they shall RECEIVE FOR THEIR REWARD THE GOOD THINGS OF THE EARTH, AND IT SHALL BRING FORTH IN ITS STRENGTH.
The first commandments he listed have become fairly natural to me. I always try to keep my priorities in check, to make sure I am keeping the Lord as my highest priority, rather than my personal neurotic or idiosyncratic tendencies. That is always an ongoing evaluation, even though I feel clearly that the Lord is my most important priority. I also do constant evaluation on whether or not I am appropriately 'loving my neighbor' by my thoughts and actions.
However, I have a deeper sense of the urgency for me to keep the sabbath day even more sacred than I have done, to stop the relaxed semi-religious activities (PBS television shows on BYUTV) and focus more ONLY on things that will bring me closer to Christ on this day. I can do genealogy, indexing, visiting teaching, prayer and scripture study, etc. I need the blessing of the bounty of the earth, so I will take the Lord's promise of DC 130:20-21 "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated " and DC 82:10, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
I need this in conjunction with and to assist in the divine intervention to complete resolution of my 'water traumas' that have made it so difficult for me to have consistent and sufficient cash flow, i.e. the bounties of the earth.
The full section:
1 Behold, blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments
2 For those that live shall inherit the earth, and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them; and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them
3 Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel; for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its strength
4 And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me
5 Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him
6 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it
7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things
8 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit
9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer
15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the a benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to c gladden the heart;
19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul
20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion
21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments
22 Behold, this is according to the law and the prophets; wherefore, trouble me no more concerning this matter
23 But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come
24 I, the Lord, have spoken it, and the Spirit beareth record. Amen
