I Know My Father Lives – Lyric Video

Hello! I Know My Father Lives  is one of the suggested songs to go along with the Come Follow Me  Book of Mormon lesson this week. This week I am posting a lyric video with a simple accompaniment of this LDS hymn/Primary song. Reid Nibley’s purpose in writing this song was “to express a testimony as a child would.” Brother Nibley was asked by Tabernacle organist, Robert Cundick, to write a song for the new children’s songbook.  As Brother Nibley tells the story, “He suggested several categories, and I was immediately drawn to ‘Testimony.’  The words ‘I know my Father lives’ came to my mind, and the music came almost simultaneously.  The remainder of the piece came very quickly, but I thought it was too simple, so I began working on it.  It became more and more complicated and less and less spontaneous.  After two weeks of struggling with it, I began to erase all the excess notes, and soon it emerged in its original form.  Thank goodness I had a big eraser.  I have been deeply touched when I have heard children sing this little song.  I have the feeling that it no longer belongs to me, but it is the most worthwhile thing I have ever done.” (Davidson: Stories and Messages of the Hymns, p. 304) (Friend, Oct. 1985, p. 15). There is a beautiful article about this topic here.

This lesson studies Mosiah chapters 4-6. In this section, King Benjamin continues his address to his people and teaches them to believe in God and be saved.

Mosiah 4:5-10

• 9 Believe in ^aGod; believe that he is, and that he ^bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all ^cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not ^dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

  10 And again, believe that ye must ^arepent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in ^bsincerity of heart that he would ^cforgive you; and now, if you ^dbelieve all these things see that ye ^edo them.

  11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have ^atasted of his love, and have received a ^bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own ^cnothingness, and his ^dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ^ehumility, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing ^gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

• The manual asks us to look for truths about God that give us reasons to trust him. Here are a few ideas I came up with as I read this section:
  • The organization and beauty of the planets and our world show me that his creations are glorious
  • The organization of our bodies and complexity of human kind (and animal life) seems too intricate and amazing to be by chance
  • When people follow God and do good; good things happen and societies flourish, because God IS goodness
  • When people forsake God and follow after their own carnal lusts…chaos, darkness and despair follow
  • Over the centuries, there have been countless prophets, apostles, writings, visitations and testimonies of Jesus Christ, angels, God and life after death…many of whom have given their own lives for their testimonies and never denied these spiritual experiences and connections they have had with the divine. God yearns to connect with his children, that’s why he covenanted with Abraham and invites all to enter in to this new and everlasting covenant. He wants a relationship with us!
  • God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, save us, redeem us and raise us from death to one day live again.
  • We must go through sorrow, make mistakes and have hard experiences to learn and grow. There is absolutely no other way to understand and progress. God has given us this chance to repent and become greater than we were through his grace, mercy and power. He won’t deny anyone their agency, but there are consequences for those who misuse it.

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Media sources: Steve Pierce and Brad & Marilee Leishman (nature images & videography)

*Please let me know if you would like the sheet music done for any of the arrangements I don’t have sheet music for yet and I am happy to do them! You can find the songs I already have sheet music for here: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/

Composer: Text and music: Reid N. Nibley, b. 1923. © 1969 IRI

This video is published on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MarileeKayMusic/ and short reels of the video are posted throughout the week on Instagram @MarileeKayMusic & Facebook