“Fear Not What Man Can Do, for God Shall Be with You Forever and Ever”
Doctrine and Covenants 122:9
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
President Wilford Woodruff said:
“When I look at the history of Joseph Smith, I sometimes think that he came as near following the footsteps of the Savior—(although no more so than His disciples)—as any one possibly could. Joseph Smith was called to lay down his life; he sealed his testimony with his blood, and passed through some serious trials and afflictions. In section 122 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—the word of the Lord given to the Prophet while in Liberty Jail—the Lord showed him his condition and position. He refers there to the trials and troubles he was called to pass through, and then compares them with what He Himself (the Savior) had to endure. [The Lord then] says: ‘. . . Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever’ [D&C 122:9]. The Lord showed him in this revelation that these afflictions were necessary. We have been called to pass through trials many times, and I do not think we should complain, because if we had no trials we should hardly feel at home in the other world in the company of the prophets and apostles who were sawn asunder, crucified, etc., for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ.”
(“Discourse,” Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1883, 2.)
