Lesson 38 - Beside Me There is No Savior

Today's reading was Isaiah 40-49

Class was introduced by taking a self-evaluation by asking ourselves the following questions:

1. What think ye of Christ? (Matthew 22:42)
2. What manner of men ought ye to be? (3 Nephi 27:27)
3. Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? ((Matthew 16:13,15)
4. Who is on the Lord's side? (Exodus 35:26)
5. Have ye received his image in your countenances? (Alma 5:14)

What do the preceding questions have in common? (They are all questions from the scriptures that help us evaluate our testimony of the Savior and our commitment to be his disciples.)

Isaiah teaches that the Savior is incomparable.

Read Isaiah 40:18 - to whom then will ye liken God?
Read Isaiah 44:8 - is there a God beside me?
Read Isaiah 43:11 - Beside me there is no Savior

Think about why these questions are repeated so often in Isaiah 40-49. There are many and only three examples are given here. How are these relevant to our day?

Pogo Stick Scriptures - these are pick-me-up scripture that bring us up when we are down, or even higher when we are up.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

As a guest speaker, Sister Hatton shared with the class her experience with MS including 3 years in a wheel chair and how the Lord answer her prayers and renewed her strength.


Another pogo stick scripture:

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

In addition to pick-me-up scriptures, there are gems lieing in wait for us that teach us the principle the Lord would have us learn. One example is from President Kimball, who upon reading Isaiah 43:22-26 which in essence, says: "But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel." President Kimball taught "I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns." (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 135)

The doctrine of this lesson, is the Godhead. We are to emmulate the Savior and become like Him. One way to do is by "chunking". Take one Christ-like attribute at a time and work on it, master it, and own it. In Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6, the Christ-like attributes are listed: Faith, hope, charity and love, virtue, knowlege, patience,humility, diligence,and obedience. We should strive to make each of these second nature in our own lives. We should:

1. Be Christ-like and not just do Christ-like things
2. Make learning to be like Christ a life-long pursuit
3. Follow the Savior's example, one attribute at a time
4. Exercise faith, repent, keep covenants, receive an increased measure of the Holy Ghost and endure to the end.

Here is an example of a man, who drew closer to the Savior and using his talents, blessed the lives of millions through music:

George Frederick Handel was born in Germany in 1685, and was a contemporary of the other great religious composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. They lived very near each other, but never managed to meet. Handel was a brilliant composer, but he struggled financially. He was perhaps too generous with his money, and not quite thrifty enough. He was a modest man, and did not think himself a great talent. A friend commented to Handel on how rotten the music was at a concert he had recently heard, not knowing it was Handel's music, and Handel, unoffended, replied, "You are right, sir; it is pretty poor stuff. I thought so myself when I wrote it" (Kavanaugh, p. 31).

Handel was not a perfect man, but he was a good man. He "was reputed to swear in several languages when moved to wrath (usually by singers). At the same time, he was equally quick to admit his own fault and apologize." His morals were above reproach. One friend, Sir John Hawkins wrote that Handel "throughout his life manifested a deep sense of religion. In conversation he would frequently declare the pleasure he felt in setting the Scriptures to music, and how contemplating the many sublime passages in the Psalms had contributed to his edification" (p. 31-32).

Handel liked to compose music that had a religious text, for performance in secular theaters. Possibly, being a German Lutheran living in Church of England territory (he spent most of his life in London), he liked the idea of non-denominational musical performances. He wrote a drama called Esther and another called Israel in Egypt, which were both performed in the theater rather than the cathedral. This really rubbed a lot of church leaders the wrong way. The Church of England openly criticized him for this. Even after the Messiah was well-known, John Newton, the composer of "Amazing Grace," preached every Sunday for over a year against its being performed publicly, rather than solely in church (p. 33). Had it been performed only in church, however, its influence would not have been as great, as we will soon see.

Handel donated freely to charities, even when he himself was facing financial ruin. He was a relentless optimist, and a scriptorian. (Perhaps those two traits often go together.) He was a bachelor with no family to support, yet he struggled to make enough money to support himself. At one point in his life, the spring of 1741, at the age of 56, he was "swimming in debt [and] it seemed certain he would land in debtor's prison" (p. 29).

Then two providential things happened concurrently that changed the course of religious music forever, as well as the lives of many individuals throughout the centuries since. The first thing was that Handel's friend, Charles Jennens, gave him a libretto he had put together. (A libretto is the term for the lyrics of a large musical work.) It was based on the life of Christ and taken entirely from the Bible. The second thing was that Handel received a commission from a Dublin charity to compose a work for a benefit performance. Handel put the two opportunities together and on August 22, 1741, he set to work composing another religious piece that would be performed in a secular venue. He became so absorbed in the work that he rarely left his room, and never left his house. "In six days part one was complete. In nine days more he had finished part two, and in another six, part three. The orchestration was completed in another two days. In all, 260 pages of manuscript were filled in the remarkably short time of 24 days." He borrowed bits of musical themes here and there from works he had written or heard previously, as did most composers in that day, and combined them with new melodies and beautiful instrumentation. He edited and rearranged a little as years went by, but not to any great degree. The Messiah we have today is very close to the original 24-day masterpiece. One biographer, Sir Newman Flower, said, "Considering the immensity of the work, and the short time involved, it will remain, perhaps forever, the greatest feat in the whole history of music composition" (p. 30).

The composing of the Messiah was an intensely spiritual experience for Handel. At one point while he was working, a servant entering the room to bring food found him with tears streaming down his face. Handel cried out to him, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself" (p. 27). He had just finished the piece now known as the "Hallelujah Chorus." Another friend who stopped to visit found him sobbing with intense emotion. Later Handel tried to explain himself and said, "Whether I was in the body or out of my body when I wrote it, I know not" (p. 30).

The Messiah premiered on April 13, 1742 in Dublin. It was a benefit concert, as planned. The Messiah, which was written to praise the Savior who freed us all from our fallen state, raised that day 400 pounds which freed 142 men from debtor's prison. Handel conducted over thirty more performances of the Messiah in his life. Many of these were also benefit concerts, with the money going to the Foundling Hospital, of which Handel was a major contributor. Because the performances were in theaters for pay, rather than in churches, they could bring in money to relieve suffering. "One biographer wrote: 'Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan...more than any other single musical production in this or any country.' Another wrote, 'Perhaps the works of no other composer have so largely contributed to the relief of human suffering'" (p. 31).

"After the first London performance of the Messiah, Lord Kinnoul congratulated Handel on the "excellent entertainment." Handel replied, 'My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertain them. I wish to make them better.'" Handel's Messiah has indeed made people better. (Source: Patrick Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers, p. 27-33)

It is a tribute to the faith and optimism Handel possessed, relying on God as he worked to overcome significant obstacles and to create music that is universally cherished today" (p. 33). It was undoubtedly his intimate working knowledge of the scriptures that allowed him to persevere and succeed in unfolding God's mission for his life. It would be well with each of us if we could live and die as Handel did, becoming acquainted with the words of our God, and then using our personal talents, our resources, the guidance of the Spirit, and the opportunities that arise around us, to emulate Christ and bring his gospel of love into the lives of others.

D&C 86:11 gives us great hope and helps us endure to the end:

"therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it."

The words to How Firm a Foundation can be found in verses 3, 4 and 5 of How Firm A Foundation. Since Hymn nubmer 85 with your family.