Tender Mercies of the Lord

[SoyLeche]

Here is the definition I'm using:

The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. (David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005, 99)

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This thread is to catalog all of the Tender Mercies that we are receiving. If you feel comfortable, feel free to add any of your own experiences.

Here is one example from Elder Bednar - who wrote the definition above:

This afternoon I want to describe and discuss a spiritual impression I received a few moments before I stepped to this pulpit during the Sunday morning session of general conference last October. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf had just finished speaking and had declared his powerful witness of the Savior. Then we all stood together to sing the intermediate hymn that previously had been announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley. The intermediate hymn that morning was “Redeemer of Israel” (Hymns, no. 6).
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Now, the music for the various conference sessions had been determined many weeks before—and obviously long before my new call to serve. If, however, I had been invited to suggest an intermediate hymn for that particular session of the conference—a hymn that would have been both edifying and spiritually soothing for me and for the congregation before my first address in this Conference Center—I would have selected my favorite hymn, “Redeemer of Israel.” Tears filled my eyes as I stood with you to sing that stirring hymn of the Restoration.
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Near the conclusion of the singing, to my mind came this verse from the Book of Mormon: “But behold, 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” (1 Ne. 1:20).
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My mind was drawn immediately to Nephi’s phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord,” and I knew in that very moment I was experiencing just such a tender mercy. A loving Savior was sending me a most personal and timely message of comfort and reassurance through a hymn selected weeks previously. Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.



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Here are a couple of my own:

A few weeks ago I needed to prepare a talk to give to the congregation at church. I didn't know how to approach the topic that I had been assigned (the blessings of the Gospel). I said a prayer asking for help, and before the prayer was over I had the impression to look at this talk by Elder Bednar again. It was the perfect basis for the talk I needed to give.

While I was listening to this talk again on my computer, I was impressed that I was looking at a list of talks by the General Authorities of the church that I could possibly use. Within a few minutes I had 7 other talks that tied into my topic. I was able to prepare and present a pretty decent talk.

As I was giving the talk I was impressed to share a story. I couldn't remember the details, so I just gave the basic outline of the story. The next day my wife and I were reading the December Ensign (an LDS magazine that can be found at www.lds.org ) and the story that I had been impressed to tell was in the first article in the magazine.

The other night my wife had a long day with the baby. She was frustrated that night, and told me that she didn't have any more patience. I put the baby to bed. Later that night she picked up the November Ensign (the General Conference report) - and the next talk that she hadn't read yet was "The Power of Patience" by Robert C. Oaks.
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