Tender Mercies
The Tender Mercies of the Lord
David A. Bednar
April 2005
1.
I testify that the tender mercies of
the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to
bestow such gifts upon us.
2.
My mind was drawn immediately to Nephi’s phrase “the tender
mercies of the Lord,” and I knew in that very moment I was experiencing just
such a tender mercy. A loving Savior was sending me a most personal and timely
message of comfort and reassurance through a hymn selected weeks previously.
Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that
the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or
merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us
to both discern and acknowledge them.
3. Through personal study, observation, pondering,
and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender
mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength,
protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and
spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions
of the children of men” (D&C 46:15).
4. Let me
suggest that one of the ways whereby the Savior comes to each of us is through
His abundant and tender mercies. For instance, as you and I face challenges and
tests in our lives, the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal
confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender
mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are
examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the
fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical
limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of
the Lord.
5. In a recent stake
conference, the tender mercies of the Lord were evident in the touching
testimony of a young wife and mother of four whose husband was slain in Iraq in
December of 2003. This stalwart sister recounted how, after being notified of
her husband’s death, she received his Christmas card and message. In the midst
of the abrupt reality of a dramatically altered life came to this good sister a
timely and tender reminder that indeed families can be together forever.
6. I repeat again, the Lord’s tender mercies do
not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable
us to receive these important gifts and, frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us
to recognize them.
7. We should
not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The
simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord
will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now
and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the
joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is
unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about
the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation
are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps
we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord
and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20).
8. Some individuals who
hear or read this message erroneously may discount or dismiss in their personal
lives the availability of the tender mercies of the Lord, believing that “I
certainly am not one who has been or ever will be chosen.” We may falsely think
that such blessings and gifts are reserved for other people who appear to be
more righteous or who serve in visible Church callings. I testify that the
tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the
Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us.
9. As we learn in these scriptures, the
fundamental purposes for the gift of agency were to love one another and to
choose God. Thus we become God’s chosen and invite His tender mercies as we use
our agency to choose God.
10. As one of
His servants, I declare my witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Redeemer and
our Savior. I know that He lives and that His tender mercies are available to
all of us. Each of us can have eyes to see clearly and ears to hear distinctly
the tender mercies of the Lord as they strengthen and assist us in these latter
days. May our hearts always be filled with gratitude for His abundant and tender mercies. In the sacred name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
The Power of Deliverance
L. Tom Perry
April 2012
11. A dominant
theme of the Book of Mormon is expressed in the final verse of the first
chapter of 1 Nephi. Nephi writes, “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 1:20).
I wish to
speak about how the Book of Mormon, which is a tender mercy of the Lord
preserved for these latter days, delivers us by teaching us in a pure and “most
correct” way the doctrine of Christ.
Love and Law
Dallin H. Oaks
October 2009
12. If only we
will listen, we can know of God’s love and feel it, even when we are
disobedient. A woman recently returned to Church activity gave this description
in a sacrament meeting talk: “He has always been
there for me, even when I rejected Him. He has always guided me and comforted
me with His tender mercies all around me, but I [was] too angry to see and
accept incidents and feelings as such.”
God Will Yet Reveal
Neal A. Maxwell
October 1986
13. The various
scriptures tell us vital things about God’s “tender mercies” (1 Ne. 1:20; Ether 6:12; see also Luke 1:78) and His dealings with our
predecessors. What is past is truly prologue; hence an unvarying, all-seeing
God, desiring to save mercurial and myopic man, is not interested in our
retroactive adulation, but in preventing our prospective ruination.
Personal Revelation: The
Teachings and Examples of the Prophets
Robert D. Hales
October 2007
14. By design, most
miracles are spiritual demonstrations of God’s power—tender mercies gently
bestowed through impressions, ideas, feelings of assurance, solutions to
problems, strength to meet challenges, and comfort to bear disappointments and
sorrow.
Honorably Hold a Name and Standing
David A. Bednar
April 2009
15. We as faithful Saints have been strengthened by adversity and
are the recipients of the Lord’s tender mercies. We have moved forward under
the promise of the Lord: “I will not suffer that [mine enemies] shall destroy
my work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning
of the devil” (D&C 10:43).
The Songs They Could Not Sing
Quentin L. Cook
October 2011
16. We as
faithful Saints have been strengthened by adversity and are the recipients of
the Lord’s tender mercies. We have moved forward under the promise of the Lord:
“I will not suffer that [mine enemies] shall destroy my work; yea, I will show
unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil” (D&C 10:43).
The Joy of the Priesthood
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
October 2012
17. As I have
immersed myself in Church service, I have felt God’s almighty power as well as
His tender mercies.
Lift Where You Stand
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
October 2008
18. I believe
that the Lord has a certain calling for every man. Sometimes He grants
spiritual promptings telling us that we are worthy to receive certain callings.
This is a spiritual blessing, a tender mercy from God.
O Remember, Remember
Henry B. Eyring
October 2007
19. I wrote down
a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was
or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would
ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or
our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen.
As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done
for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that
happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed
God to show me what He had done.
20. My point is
to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.
