Doctrine and Covenants 81–83

In March 1832, the Lord called Jesse Gause to be a counselor to Joseph Smith in the Presidency of the High Priesthood (now called the First Presidency). Doctrine and Covenants 81 is a revelation to Brother Gause about his new calling. But Jesse Gause did not serve faithfully, so Frederick G. Williams was called to replace him. Brother Williams’s name replaced Brother Gause’s name in the revelation.

That may seem like a minor detail, but it implies a significant truth: most revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are addressed to specific people, but we can always seek ways to apply them to ourselves (see 1 Nephi 19:23). When we read the Lord’s counsel to Frederick G. Williams to “strengthen the feeble knees,” we can think of people we might strengthen (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5). When we read the Lord’s invitation to members of the United Firm to “bind yourselves by this covenant,” we can think of our own covenants. And we can read His promise, “I … am bound when ye do what I say,” as if He’s speaking to us (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10, 15). We can do this because, as the Lord declared, “What I say unto one I say unto all” (verse 5).

See “Newel K. Whitney and the United Firm,” “Jesse Gause: Counselor to the Prophet,” in Revelations in Context, 142–47, 155–57.