“Thou Shalt Thank the Lord Thy God in All Things”
Doctrine and Covenants 59:6–8
6 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.
7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.
8 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“For all that we possess we are dependent upon the mercy of the Lord. His love for us is far greater than our love is for Him, for none of us keep strictly and completely all of His commandments. He is perfect and His love is perfect, but with us in our fallen, or mortal, condition, we cannot exercise the feeling of love and appreciation for what has been done for us by our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in the full. When our lives become perfect, as they may through obedience to the laws of God and after the resurrection from death, we too may exercise and feel these emotions and possess the virtues which They possess, to the full. We are, however, instructed enough in the things of the kingdom of heaven to know what our duty is and how dependent we are. James has said:
“‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ [James 1:17]. And the prophet-king, Benjamin, by commandment of the Lord informed the Nephites of their dependence upon the Lord in the following words:
“‘I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
“‘And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
“‘And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
“‘And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?’ (Mosiah 2:21–24).”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:217–18.)
