Alma entrusts the sacred records to the care of Helaman, emphasizing the sacred duty to care for them. He specifically instructs Helaman to keep secret the evil oaths and covenants in the record of the Jaredites, telling him to teach faith and repentance instead. He urges Helaman to seek wisdom while he’s still young, and he explains that the Liahona functions as a useful symbol of how we can follow the word of God.
Chapter Outline
- Take responsibility for our sacred records (v. 1-12)
- Be diligent in keeping the commandments of God (v. 13-20)
- Keep secret the works of darkness recorded on the Jaredite plates (v. 21-34)
- Learn wisdom while you’re young (v. 35-37)
- The Liahona teaches us how to follow the word of God (v. 38-47)
My Takeaways
- Scripture can help us in multiple ways: enhancing our memory, helping us improve, and teaching us how to come unto Christ.
- We must take seriously our stewardships.
- Just as God gave Gazelem a stone, he will help us fulfill our callings.
- We should ask God for advice about the decisions we need to make today.
- The word of Christ will lead us safely on our journey just as the Liahona led the family of Lehi safely to their promised land
Featured Blog Posts
❖ Helaman is entrusted with the sacred records – Alma 37:1-12
“They Must Retain Their Brightness” – Alma 37:5
When Nephi and his brothers returned to the camp of their family in the wilderness, their father, Lehi, examined the sacred writings contained on brass plates which they had retrieved. After searching the record and learning about its contents, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and began to prophesy: That these plates…
They Have Enlarged the Memory of This People – Alma 37:8-10
8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls. 9 Yea, I say…
“A Wise Purpose” – Alma 37:2, 12, 14, 18
An important element of faith is trusting that God has good reasons for what He does, even when we don’t understand those reasons. Nephi tells us that the Lord commanded him to create a record of his ministry “for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not” (1 Nephi 9:5). Later, he learned…
❖ Admonition: Be diligent – Alma 37:13-20
God Has Entrusted You with These Things – Alma 37:14-16
14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations. 15 And now behold, I tell you by the…
❖ Keep the works of darkness secret – Alma 37:21-34
Gazelem – Alma 37:23
The record of the Jaredite people was engraved on twenty-four plates (Ether 1:2). The Lord gave the brother of Jared two stones to store with the plates. He explained that those stones would enable future readers to understand the words he would write. For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore…
❖ Learn wisdom – Alma 37:35-37
What Does It Mean to “Counsel with the Lord?”
Every time we pray, we face a paradox. On the one hand, we know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). We are imperfect mortals with limited perspective attempting to communicate with a Being who knows infinitely more than we do. On the other hand, He has commanded us to pray to…
❖ The Liahona – Alma 37:38-47
Not Without a Shadow – Alma 37:43-45
43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual. 44 For behold, it is as…
“The Easiness of the Way”
Sometimes, the best solution to a problem is the simplest one. Making small, incremental improvements consistently can be much more powerful than trying to fix everything at once. Alma said, “Do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way.”
New Testament Parallels
Be Not Weary
Both Paul and Alma counseled church members to not be weary in doing good, and the Lord renewed this counsel in 1831. It means that we must keep moving forward. The promise is that we will find rest to our souls, now and forever.
“I Will Give You Rest”
Sometimes the very things which seem on the surface to make our lives harder are actually lightening our burdens.
Chaff
A winnowing fan is a kind of basket used to throw chaff and grain into the air. The chaff blows away, and the heavier grain remains. Chaff can represent our sins. If we are willing to let them go, they will blow away as the Savior winnows us.
Church History Connections
Entrusted
Part of Heavenly Father’s plan for our eternal happiness is to give us responsibilities and then to help us live up to the trust He has placed in us. Generations of record-keepers in the Book of Mormon conscientiously preserved and added to the sacred records containing the history of their people. When Alma passed those…
Day by Day
When it was time for Lehi and his family to begin their journey in the wilderness, God gave them a tool to help them steer a straight course toward their destination. Nephi refers to it as “a round ball of curious workmanship” (1 Nephi 16:10). Alma later explains to his son Helaman that it was…
“Seek Me Early”
When something is important to you, you want to do it right away. You prioritize it over other things. The Hebrew word shachar (שָׁחַר) means “dawn” or “morning.” Twelve times in the Old Testament, it appears as a verb instead of a noun. What does it mean to “dawn” something? It means to do it…
All Posts Referencing Alma 37
- Contents of the Brass Plates (1/3/2026)
- “Take Especial Care of Your Family” (11/6/2025)
- Cheerfully (10/26/2025)
- Unlocking Spiritual Knowledge (6/29/2025)
- Proactive Steadiness: Anxiously Engaged, but Not in Haste (6/5/2025)
- Meek and Lowly (12/13/2024)
- Samuel the Lamanite on the Burden of Freedom (9/10/2024)
- “We Are Weary” (8/23/2024)
- He Has…and He Will (7/31/2024)
- “The Easiness of the Way” (7/30/2024)
- A Lying Spirit (7/18/2024)
- Strictness (7/17/2024)
- My Liahona (1/31/2024)
- By Small Means (1/30/2024)
- “What Great Things” (1/5/2024)
- Testimony of Jesus = Spirit of Prophecy (12/30/2023)
- Be Not Weary (10/20/2023)
- Earthen Vessels (9/15/2023)
- “That He May Sift You” (6/13/2023)
- “I Will Give You Rest” (3/17/2023)
- Chaff (1/24/2023)
- God Gave Them Knowledge (11/1/2022)
- Joshua and the Book of Mormon (5/26/2022)
- There Was Bread (3/11/2022)
- Day by Day (10/9/2021)
- “Seek Me Early” (8/13/2021)
- “The Way Whither We Should Go” – 1 Nephi 16:10 (7/13/2021)
- Entrusted (2/10/2021)
- One Eternal Round (1/19/2021)
- “They Must Retain Their Brightness” – Alma 37:5 (7/26/2020)
- Gazelem – Alma 37:23 (7/24/2020)
- “A Wise Purpose” – Alma 37:2, 12, 14, 18 (7/22/2020)
- What Are the Mysteries of God? (1/19/2020)
- Like unto Moses – 1 Nephi 4:2 (1/11/2020)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Affirm? (12/28/2019)
- What Is Wisdom? (12/13/2019)
- When Should I Express Gratitude? (11/29/2019)
- What Does It Mean to Be “Ripe in Iniquity?” (11/23/2019)
- How Can I Recognize the Hand of the Lord in My Life? (10/27/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About Diligence? (9/22/2019)
- What Does It Mean for a Soul to Rest? (7/29/2019)
- What Is the Significance of God’s Promise to Nephi? (7/19/2019)
- What Is a Covenant? (6/20/2019)
- What Is the Liahona? (6/13/2019)
- What Do We Know About the Jaredite Plates? (5/26/2019)
- How Can I Be More Humble? (5/13/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About Sadness? (5/7/2019)
- What Does It Mean to Be Sober? (4/20/2019)
- What Does It Mean to “Counsel with the Lord?” (3/31/2019)
- What Is the Urim and Thummim? (1/17/2019)
- What is the Relationship Between Faith and Humility? (1/11/2019)
- They Have Enlarged the Memory of This People – Alma 37:8-10 (8/21/2018)
- Not Without a Shadow – Alma 37:43-45 (11/15/2017)
- Never Be Weary of Good Works – Alma 37:34 (8/18/2016)
- Therefore, I Shall Forbear – Alma 37:11-12 (4/19/2016)
- God Has Entrusted You with These Things – Alma 37:14-16 (7/24/2015)