"O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!"
2 Nephi 4:31-32
I think that this first question is one that we all want to ask God, pleading with him for our own souls... and we *should* ask, and have that conversation, because that opens us up to the guidance of the Spirit and being led along God's path.
Speaking of God's path, I find it interesting that this talks about a low valley, when so many scriptures talk about a high mountain, and that is a traditional symbol for the temple. In that context, I was looking for anything else that referred to low valleys and I found Helaman 14:23 which is talking about some of the changes that would happen at the time of Christ's birth, and it says "there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains."
Since that already happened, I wonder which holy spots are now valleys that used to be mountains, and if that changes the nature of the spot... or, if, sometimes, God's path also takes us through low valleys, perhaps even "the valley of the shadow of death" that it talks about in Psalm 23:4.
Today, let's make sure we are walking through the gates of righteousness rather than the gates of hell, so that we are on the correct path, whether it takes us high or low, through shadow or plain. :)
May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!"
2 Nephi 4:31-32
I think that this first question is one that we all want to ask God, pleading with him for our own souls... and we *should* ask, and have that conversation, because that opens us up to the guidance of the Spirit and being led along God's path.
Speaking of God's path, I find it interesting that this talks about a low valley, when so many scriptures talk about a high mountain, and that is a traditional symbol for the temple. In that context, I was looking for anything else that referred to low valleys and I found Helaman 14:23 which is talking about some of the changes that would happen at the time of Christ's birth, and it says "there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains."
Since that already happened, I wonder which holy spots are now valleys that used to be mountains, and if that changes the nature of the spot... or, if, sometimes, God's path also takes us through low valleys, perhaps even "the valley of the shadow of death" that it talks about in Psalm 23:4.
Today, let's make sure we are walking through the gates of righteousness rather than the gates of hell, so that we are on the correct path, whether it takes us high or low, through shadow or plain. :)
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