Tender Mercies

I have always loved the scripture from 1 Nephi 1:20: "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." Elder Bednar spoke about that verse in his talk back in April 2005.

Many times in my life, I have thought about these tender mercies. The Lord has been very sweet to us. One day, during a particularly stressful time adjusting to having a new baby, I packed Grace a juice box for school, but I forgot that the straw had fallen off that one, so she had no way to drink it (she was only in Kindergarten). When she got to school, she realized she didn't have a straw, and the girl next to her said, "Well, my mom gave me two straws accidentally." The little girl let Grace use one of her straws, and all was well. I could picture the Lord making sure that an extra straw was packed for the girl who would sit next to Grace that day. A tender mercy.

If you do a search on www.lds.org, you will find several scriptures that use the words "tender mercies." As I studied these, I came across a couple that I wanted to record here.

Psalm 145: 9 says, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works."

Psalm 69:16 reads, "Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies."

What I noticed is that the Lord doesn't have only a few tender mercies saved up for the one or two people who deserve them the most. He has a mulititude of mercies for all. As we learn to identify these and live worthy to receive more, the Lord pours out His blessings upon us. Elder Bednar's talk is one I want to go through again carefully. He talks about how we can be "chosen" to receive such mercies. It is beautiful.