“And He Hath Made My Mouth Like a Sharp Sword”

D. Kelly Ogden, Andrew C. Skinner

“Mouth like a sharp sword”—to the wicked the servant’s words are cutting like a sword (1 Nephi 16:2; D&C 6:1–2).

Elaborating on the concept of a polished shaft, the Prophet Joseph Smith exclaimed: “I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyer-craft, doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and women—all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty, who will give me dominion over all and every one of them, when their refuge of lies shall fail, and their hiding place shall be destroyed, while these smooth-polished stones with which I come in contact become marred.” 58

“In his quiver hath he hid me”—the servant is hidden or protected until the appropriate time for the Lord to pull him out to fight in the cause of righteousness. The arrow of truth will be shot out into the world and will pierce the hearts of the wicked.

Verse by Verse: The Book of Mormon: Vol. 1

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