Friday, March 28, 2008

Mosiah 22:4

4 And now O king, if thou hast not found me to be an unprofitable servant, or if thou hast hitherto listened to my words, and they have been of service to thee, even so I desire that thou wouldst listen to my words at this time, and I will be thy servant and deliver this people out of bondage.

1 comment:

ethan said...

I don't think that the "unprofitable servant" stuff is just self effacing. This is after three major military defeats to the Lamanites. Gideon even points out in the previous verse that Limhi has listened to him on previous occasions when "we have been contending with our brethren, the Lamanites." I'm sure that Gideon gave some bad advise that probably cost some people their lives. It was courageous after so many failures to stand up with an idea and make the promise to deliver the people out of bondage. The verse does not state it but Gideon's intense desire and confidence make me think that he had strong impressions from the Holy Ghost that this plan would work. I see this as an act of faith that was probably preceded more by a prompting than by a vision, and I like it for that reason--more uncertainty in the mind of the doer, but impressions are as revelatory as visions and our minds ought to be certain with regard to them too.