1 Nephi 1-3

At Fishing River, the Lord teaches Zion Camp a great doctrine -

"There has been a day of calling, but the time has come for a day of choosing; and let those be chosen that are worthy.
36 And it shall be manifest unto my servant, by the voice of the Spirit, those that are chosen..." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 105:35 - 36)

To Lehi came a call extended from the Lord. Nephi said -

"...my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.
6 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much..." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:5 - 6)

Afterwards -

"...he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.
8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision..." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:7 - 8)

"...he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And...he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven...
10 And he also saw twelve others following him,...11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.
12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:8 - 12)

And when he -

"...had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord...
15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:14 - 15)

And then upon receiving the call, Lehi -

"...he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard...and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:18 - 19)"
But -

"...the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations...and the Jews heard these things they were angry with him... sought his life, that they might take it away." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:19 - 20)

The day of choosing had come for Lehi, and he chose to be obedient. By doing so, he became worthy to be "one of those chosen". Nephi then teaches a profound principle -

"..I, Nephi, will show unto you that the "tender mercies of the Lord" (see yesterday's blog) are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance..."(Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:20)

"...the Lord commanded [Lehi], even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.
3 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 2:2 - 3)

And after doing so Lehi -

"...built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God..." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 2:7)

The burden of recognizing the "tender mercies of the Lord" is on the recipient. To Lehi, the revelation in a dream to leave Jerusalem was indeed a tender mercy and the power of deliverance. To others such as -

"...the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for ...they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 2:11)

Elder David A Bednar stated -

"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...We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live." (General Conference - April 2005)