Primary 84 - The Psalms


Palms discusses repentance and hardship. The biggest thing is what sin and hardship do to us. The psalms discus creation, the plan of salvation, Gods mercy and justice. All these things are a part of our lives.

There is a parable of the potato, egg, and coffee. (Just a note, we do not condemn not condone coffee use. Here it makes a good allegory or metaphor.) The story goes a chef's daughter was having a tough time with life. She didn't understand how to approach problems, school, or life. The father took three pots of water and in one he boils potatoes, another, eggs, and in the third, coffee. When they are complete, the father dressed and presents them to the girl. 

"What do you see?"

The girl gives a reply of confusion. "Potatoes, eggs, and coffee. So what?"

The father presents the three in dishes. "What do you see?" He asks again. The daughter is now frustrated. "Potatoes, eggs, and coffee. So what?"

The father then gives the lesson. "Boiling water has made the hard potato, soft. It has made a soft and vulnerable egg, hard. Finally, coffee made the trial (the boiling water) part of its existence. Our trials are the same. Our trials can make us tough soft or consumed. Think about where you are in life and how you will make your trials change you." The daughter left changed and approached life with a better understanding.

Brothers and sisters our trials and faith are just like that. Our trials can harden us against God or solidify our faith and love of the Savior. It can soften us and make us vulnerable to satan or soften us to hear the Spirit. Finally like coffee, we could be consumed by trial, polluting us, or make it can make our faith and the Holy Ghost so much a part of us that we cannot be distinguished. Life is full of trials and tests of our faith because it is a part of us. Faith and trial will make us who we want to be. Our Father in Heaven wants to be part of our experience. The Savior and Holy Ghost want the same.

How do we do this? We need to repent and relent from our darker urges and behavior. We must realize that when we are trying to be Celestial beings in a terrestrial world; when we repent and turn from our old ways that it isn't about staying sad and dwelling in sackcloth and ashes. People in the kingdom have done more than repented, they have built their relationship with their Savior. When we repent we repair. Some say dependence is about being sad. Repentance is about happiness. When we have come to Christ we become happy. The Book of Mormon tells of happy people that came from hard repentance better and greater. King Lamoni, Alma, both father and son, and King David, just to name a few. These men do not dwell on sin and neither does our Savior. 

We promise you that when we put our faith in the Lord as we go through our trials we will be changed and blessed in ways we can comprehend. He knows us and loves us and will give us opportunities to develop and grow.  We love you guys.

Challenges 
1) Read Psalms 102-103; 110; 116-119; 127-128; 135-139; 146-150
2) In a journal write down what you will do when trials entered your life. Ask a parent or family member what they do when facing trials.

Comments

  1. JaysonAugust 21, 2022 at 3:21 PM

    Great allegories! If you don't want to use "coffee" in the story, you could also use herbal teas. As the water boils, it infuses the essence on potency of the leaves into the liquid. Orange leaves make the water smell aromatically like oranges, calamine makes the water have a soothing quality, peppermint causes the water to gain the properties of the mint leaf.

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