Covenant Road

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Hello Friends! Some arrangements I do require more time and effort than others. Covenant Road is the pinnacle of all I have been able to put forth up to this point. Hopefully, you can still enjoy the next few songs after this one! ha ha. Almost a year ago, our *Stake Relief Society President ask me if I would write a song about Covenants/Temples for our upcoming women & young women conference in our *stake. Her name is Tiffany Tolman and I had worked with her on a previous project for my Come Follow Me Music project. Here is the song we did: What Child is This

I had mentioned to Tiffany, in passing, that I had written a few songs, including a hymn and when the time came for planning this event, she reached out to me. I am grateful to her for believing in me enough to ask me to write such a song; for it truly has been an amazing experience. I included my husband, Brad, in the credit for the text of this song because he was invaluable in helping come up with ideas for the lyrics and granting me his everlastingly candid feedback! He is the best.

Once the song was written, revised, re-written and transcribed, I reached out to some women in our stake to collect a group who would be able to sing it with me for the conference. As Brad and I discussed, we felt it was important to include a soloist to clearly sing out the lyrics of this unfamiliar song into the microphone and then include a harmony choir of women and young women who could back up the message of the song. A few months later I reached out to those who had participated to see if they would be interested in recording and filming the song. Many were able to commit and here we are! (The link to the sheet music for this women’s arrangement can be found here and there is also an SATB choir arrangement to use as desired. http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/)

• *A Stake Relief Society president is a woman who currently serves as the leader of the women organization, Relief Society, for our Stake.
• *A stake is a group of about five to ten Church congregations, generally consisting of about 3000 to 5000 members in a geographical area.
• *The Relief Society is a women’s organization in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that helps those in need, strengthens families, and builds faith in Jesus Christ.

The topic of this song has a lot of doctrine that is important to understand in order to grasp the true meaning of it. Please be patient with me with the longer than usual post because of my desire to be clear in explaining some key principles.

The following includes excerpts from President Nelson’s talk “The Everlasting Covenant” and some verses from our Come Follow Me lesson “Ye Are the Children of the Covenant” studying 3 Nephi chapters 20-26. These resources explain a lot of the doctrine behind the lyrics in”Covenant Road”.

• Lyric: “We have entered Thy covenant, in the name of Him who was sent. “
  • I have spoken frequently about the importance of the Abrahamic covenant and the gathering of Israel. When we embrace the gospel and are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Baptism is the gate that leads to becoming joint heirs to all the promises given anciently by the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity. “The new and everlasting covenant”² (Doctrine and Covenants 132:6) and the Abrahamic covenant are essentially the same—two ways of phrasing the covenant God made with mortal men and women at different times. (Russell M. Nelson)
•  Lyric: “We have entered into this world, where we have forgotten it all. With Him we’ll walk this road, overcoming the fall.”
  • The adjective everlasting denotes that this covenant existed even before the foundation of the world! The plan laid out in the Grand Council in Heaven included the sobering realization that we would all be cut off from God’s presence. However, God promised that He would provide a Savior who would overcome the consequences of the Fall. God told Adam after his baptism:
    • “Thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity. “Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons” (Moses 6:67–68).
  • Click here to learn more about Premortality
• Lyric: “We’ll stand as witnesses for the Lamb that was rent.”
  • 3 Nephi 20:22 And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you.
  • 3 Nephi 20: 26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant-
• Lyric: “We are clothed in power; on the path that Jesus has shown”.
  • Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.
  • The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love. (Spiritual Treasures)
• Lyric: “Know we are not alone, bound with Him ’till the end.”
  • Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. In the Hebrew language, that covenantal love is called hesed (חֶסֶד).³
  • Hesed has no adequate English equivalent. Translators of the King James Version of the Bible must have struggled with how to render hesed in English. They often chose “lovingkindness.” This captures much but not all the meaning of hesed. Other translations were also rendered, such as “mercy” and “goodness.” Hesed is a unique term describing a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other.
  • Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with Him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us.
  • 3 Nephi 22:10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
• Lyric: “Promised blessings of old”
  • You know of the historic declaration the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It came by revelation. The Lord said to Joseph, “This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:31).
  • Thereby, this everlasting covenant was restored as part of the great Restoration of the gospel in its fulness. Think of it! A marriage covenant made in the temple is tied directly to that Abrahamic covenant. In the temple a couple is introduced to all the blessings reserved for the faithful posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  • As did Adam, you and I personally entered the covenant path at baptism. Then we enter it more completely in the temple. The blessings of the Abrahamic covenant are conferred in holy temples. These blessings allow us, upon being resurrected, to “inherit thrones, kingdoms, powers, principalities, and dominions, to our ‘exaltation and glory in all things’ [Doctrine and Covenants 132:19].”⁴
• Lyric: “Blessings unfold in that future hour. This covenant road is our way back home.”
  • Those who make sacred covenants and keep them are promised eternal life and exaltation, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). Jesus Christ is the guarantor of those covenants (see Hebrews 7:22; 8:6). Covenant keepers who love God and allow Him to prevail over all other things in their lives make Him the most powerful influence in their lives.
• Lyric: “He invites all come home, on this covenant road.”
  • The Lord has commanded that we spread the gospel and share the covenant. That is why we have missionaries. He wishes for every one of His children to have the opportunity to choose the Savior’s gospel and embark upon the covenant path. God wants to connect all people to the covenant He made anciently with Abraham.
  • Thus, missionary work is an essential part of the great gathering of Israel. That gathering is the most important work taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude. Nothing else compares in importance. The Lord’s missionaries—His disciples—are engaged in the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, the greatest work on earth today.
  • But there is even more—much more. There is a huge need to spread the gospel to people on the other side of the veil. God wants everyone, on both sides of the veil, to enjoy the blessings of His covenant. The covenant path is open to all. We plead with everyone to walk that path with us. No other work is so universally inclusive. For “the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name” (Helaman 3:27).
  • 3 Nephi 20:25 And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

For anyone who may be interested in learning more about how they can receive all of the blessings of the gospel, just know, anyone can. This is not an exclusive club. All of us are flawed humans. We are all beggars. A great place to start is by reading the Book of Mormon which is the Lord’s great gathering tool in the latter days. Another thing one could do is take discussions with missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There is never coercion, deceiving or brain-washing. Discussions with missionaries are simply to teach gospel principles and allow us to use our God-given agency to make our own choices. Link to Meet with the Missionaries

A few more interesting articles

• Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ
• The Garment of the Holy Priesthood

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*Reach out if you would like the sheet music for any of the arrangements I don’t have sheet music for yet and I will transcribe and post them. You can find the songs I already have sheet music for here: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/

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