Doctrine and Covenants Commentary - Section 109

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
           SECTION 109

Prayer offered at the dedication of the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, March 27, 1836. HC 2:420—426. According to the Prophet's written statement, this prayer was given to him by revelation.

    1—5, Kirtland Temple built as a place for the Son of Man to visit;
    6—21, It is to be a house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, and order, and a house of God;
    22—33, may the unrepentant who oppose the Lord's people be confounded;
    34—42, May the saints go forth in power to gather the righteous to Zion;
    43—53, May the saints be delivered from the terrible things to be poured out upon the wicked in the last days;
    54—58, May nations and peoples and churches be prepared for the gospel;
    68—80, May the saints be crowned with glory and honor and gain eternal salvation.
D&C 109:1 aTHANKS be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest bcovenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts—
D&C 109:2 Thou who hast commanded thy servants to abuild a house to thy name in this place [Kirtland].
D&C 109:3 And now thou beholdest, O Lord, that thy servants have done according to thy commandment.

D&C 109:4 And now we ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of thy bosom, in whose name alone salvation can be administered to the children of men, we ask thee, O, Lord, to accept of this ahouse, the bworkmanship of the hands of us, thy servants, which thou didst command us to build.
D&C 109:5 For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have agiven of our substance to build a bhouse to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to cmanifest himself to his people.

D&C 109:6 And as thou hast said in a arevelation, given to us, calling us thy friends, saying—Call your solemn assembly, as I have commanded you;
D&C 109:7 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best abooks words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;
D&C 109:8 Organize yourselves; aprepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a bhouse of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of corder, a dhouse of God;
D&C 109:9 That your aincomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High—

D&C 109:10 And now, Holy Fathera, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace, in calling our asolemn assembly, that it may be done to thine honor and to thy divine acceptance;
D&C 109:11 And in a manner that we may be found worthy, in thy sight, to secure a fulfilment of the apromises which thou hast made unto us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us;
D&C 109:12 That thy aglory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house;
D&C 109:13 And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a aplace of thy holiness.

D&C 109:14 And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house may be taught words of wisdom out of the best abooks, and that they may seek learning even by study, and also by faith, as thou hast said;
D&C 109:15 And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;

D&C 109:16 And that this house may be a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of glory, and of God, even thy house;
D&C 109:17 That all the incomings of thy people, into this house, may be in the name of the Lord;
D&C 109:18 That all their outgoings from this house may be in the name of the Lord;
D&C 109:19 And that all their salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with holy hands, uplifted to the Most High;

D&C 109:20 And that no aunclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy house to bpollute it;
D&C 109:21 And when thy people atransgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall breverence thee in thy house.

D&C 109:22 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy aname may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine bangels have charge over them;
D&C 109:23 And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the aends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.

D&C 109:24 We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity;
D&C 109:25 That no weapon aformed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a bpit for them shall fall into the same himself;
D&C 109:26 That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and aprevail over thy people upon whom thy bname shall be put in this house;
D&C 109:27 And if any people shall rise against this people, that thine anger be kindled against them;
D&C 109:28 And if they shall smite this people thou wilt smite them; thou awilt fight for thy people as thou didst in the day of battle, that they may be delivered from the hands of all their enemies.

D&C 109:29 We ask thee, Holy Father, to confound, and astonish, and to bring to ashame and confusion, all those who have spread blying reports abroad, over the world, against thy servant or servants, if they will not repent, when the everlasting gospel shall be proclaimed in their ears;
D&C 109:30 And that all their works may be brought to naught, and be swept away by the ahail, and by the judgments which thou wilt send upon them in thine anger, that there may be an end to blyings and slanders against thy people.
D&C 109:31 For thou knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in abearing record of thy name, for which they have suffered these things.

D&C 109:32 Therefore we plead before thee for a full and complete adeliverance from under this byoke;
D&C 109:33 Break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.

D&C 109:34 O Jehovah, have mercy upon this people, and as all men asin forgive the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever.
D&C 109:35 Let the aanointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on high.
D&C 109:36 Let it be fulfilled upon them, as upon those on the day of Pentecost; let the gift of atongues be poured out upon thy people, even bcloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation thereof.
D&C 109:37 And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty awind, with thy bglory.

D&C 109:38 Put upon thy servants the atestimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word they may bseal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants of the cearth, because of their transgressions, that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble.
D&C 109:39 And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city areceive their testimony, let thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city; that they may gather out of that city the righteous, that they may come forth to bZion, or to her stakes, the places of thine appointment, with songs of everlasting joy;
D&C 109:40 And until this be accomplished, let not thy judgments fall upon that city.

D&C 109:41 And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive not the testimony of thy servants, and thy servants warn them to save themselves from this untoward generation, let it be upon that city according to that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of thy prophets.
D&C 109:42 But deliver thou, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, thy servants from their hands, and acleanse them from their blood.

D&C 109:43 O Lord, we delight not in the destruction of our fellow men; their asouls are precious before thee;
D&C 109:44 But thy word must be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy agrace assisting them: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.
D&C 109:45 We know that thou hast spoken by the mouth of thy prophets terrible things concerning the awicked, in the last days—that thou wilt pour out thy judgments, without measure;
D&C 109:46 Therefore, O Lord, deliver thy people from the calamity of the wicked; enable thy servants to seal up the law, and abind up the testimony, that they may be prepared against the day of burning.

D&C 109:47 We ask thee, Holy Father, to remember those who have been adriven by the inhabitants of Jackson county, Missouri, from the lands of their inheritance, and break off, O Lord, this byoke of affliction that has been put upon them.
D&C 109:48 Thou knowest, O Lord, that they have been greatly aoppressed and afflicted by wicked men; and our bhearts flow out with sorrow because of their grievous cburdens.
D&C 109:49 O Lord, ahow long wilt thou suffer this people to bear this affliction, and the bcries of their innocent ones to ascend up into thine ears, and their cblood come up in testimony before thee, and not make a display of thy testimony in their behalf?

D&C 109:50 Have amercy, O Lord, upon the wicked mob, who have driven thy people, that they may cease to spoil, that they may repent of their sins if repentance is to be found;
D&C 109:51 But if they will not, make bare thine arm, O Lord, and aredeem that which thou didst appoint a Zion unto thy people.
D&C 109:52 And if it cannot be otherwise, that the cause of thy people may not fail before thee may thine anger be kindled, and thine aindignation fall upon them, that they may be wasted away, both root and branch, from under heaven;
D&C 109:53 But inasmuch as they will repent, thou art agracious and merciful, and wilt turn away thy wrath when thou lookest upon the face of thine Anointed.

D&C 109:54 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the anations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principlesa, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the bConstitution of our land, by our fathers, be established foreverb.

 54a those principles The principles of the Constitution begin with the concept of 'Self Government', that is 'We the People', that is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Self government of society is but an extention of the concept of 'free agency', being about to choose for one's self. Under the Constitution of the United States, the government obtains it rights to govern by the 'voice and consent of the people', the governed. Thus it is based upon the agency and vote of the individual.
 54b established forever Moral Free Agency is the basis of the government of heaven. God rules by the consent of the governed. It is by our freely submitting ourselves to the will and governing by our Father that the Father obtains his position in relationship to us. Thus the very principles of democratic self government, were the governed are taught righteous principles and then according to their moral free agency so comply to those righteous principles in governing themselves and thus willing submitting to the righteous will of the Father, this very type of government will be established forever, both during the reign of the Lord of the millennium and on into eternity as the form of government of the Celestial Kingdom, where all become equal with Christ and the Father.
D&C 109:55 aRemember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the churches, all the poor, the needy, and afflicted ones of the earth;
D&C 109:56 That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the atruth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all;
D&C 109:57 That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have aheard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;
D&C 109:58 That from among all these, thy servants, the sons of Jacob, may gather out the righteous to build a holy acity to thy name, as thou hast commanded them.

D&C 109:59 We ask thee to appoint unto Zion other astakes besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of thy bpeople may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy work may be cut cshort in righteousness.

D&C 109:60 Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the aGentiles.
D&C 109:61 But thou knowest that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been ascattered upon the bmountains for a long time, in a ccloudy and dark day.

D&C 109:62 We therefore ask thee to have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that aJerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed;
D&C 109:63 And the yoke of bondage may begin to be broken off from the house of aDavid;
D&C 109:64 And the children of aJudah may begin to return to the blands which thou didst give to Abraham, their father.
D&C 109:65 And cause that the aremnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and smitten because of their transgression, be bconverted from their wild and savage condition to the fulness of the everlasting gospel;
D&C 109:66 That they may lay down their weapons of bloodshed, and cease their rebellions.
D&C 109:67 And may all the scattered remnants of aIsrael, who have been driven to the ends of the earth, come to a knowledge of the truth, believe in the Messiah, and be redeemed from boppression, and rejoice before thee.

D&C 109:68 O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., and all his afflictions and persecutions—how he has acovenanted with bJehovah, and vowed to thee, O Mighty God of Jacob—and the commandments which thou hast given unto him, and that he hath sincerely striven to do thy will.
D&C 109:69 Have mercy, O Lord, upon his awife and children, that they may be exalted in thy presence, and preserved by thy fostering hand.
D&C 109:70 Have mercy upon all their aimmediate connections, that their prejudices may be broken up and swept away as with a flood; that they may be bconverted and redeemed with Israel, and know that thou art God.

D&C 109:71 Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all the presidents of thy church, that thy right hand may exalt them, with all their families, and their immediate connections, that their names may be perpetuated and had in everlasting remembrance from generation to generation.
D&C 109:72 Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the akingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;
D&C 109:73 That thy achurch may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the bmoon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
D&C 109:74 And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to aflow down at thy presence, and the bvalleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
D&C 109:75 That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be acaught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord;
D&C 109:76 That our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with arobes of brighteousness, with palms in our hands, and ccrowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal djoy for all our esufferings.

D&C 109:77 O Lord God Almighty, hear us in these our petitions, and answer us from heaven, thy holy habitation, where thou sittest enthroned, with aglory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgment, mercy, and an infinity of fulness, from everlasting to everlasting.

D&C 109:78 O hear, O hear, O hear us, O Lord! And answer these petitions, and accept the adedication of this house unto thee, the bwork of our hands, which we have built unto thy name;
D&C 109:79 And also this church, to put upon it thy aname. And help us by the power of thy Spirit, that we may bmingle our voices with those bright, shining cseraphs around thy throne, with acclamations of dpraise, singing Hosanna to God and the eLamb!

D&C 109:80 And let these, thine aanointed ones, be clothed with salvation, and thy saints bshout aloud for joy. Amen, and Amen.