D&C Section Three

(I'm going to do D&C 10 tomorrow because they are related.)
From April to June of 1828, Martin Harris acted as scribe as Joseph
translated the plates. The 116 pages of manuscript contained the Book of
Lehi and were lost by Martin Harris after he had pressed Joseph three times
to go to the Lord for permission. This revelation was given in response to
those lost pages. Joseph was in a difficult situation. Martin had probably
done more for Joseph financially than anyone and now he was dedicating his
time to helping him translate rather than run his farm, which was one of the
more prosperous farms in the area. So when Martin asked him to get
permission from the Lord to take the manuscript and show it to his wife and
four other family members, (His wife was very critical of his relationship
with the Smiths), Joseph had to of felt that he at least owed Martin enough
to ask the Lord.

The basic lesson here is in verse 4, we shouldn't fear man more than God.
Joseph and Martin should not have allowed the pressures of the people close
to them to influence what they were doing. I don't think Joseph yet
appreciated the sacrifices that had been made for the Book of Mormon to come
forth because he hadn't gotten that far in the translation. Later, he would
know all that had been done to bring the ancient record into his hands, all
of the prayer, fasting, worrying, and persecution involved, not to mention
the painstaking effort needed to engrave the plates.

In allowing Martin to take the manuscript, they had entered into covenants
about who would see it (only those five people) and when it would be
returned. These covenants were broken and Joseph had the plates taken from
him as a result. I can sympathize with him because too often have I taken
the Book of Mormon lightly, or broken promises I have made with the Lord.
In short, how often have I treated sacred things less than they deserved?

For me, just as it was for Joseph and Martin, the answer is in verse 10:
"Remember, God is merciful; therefore repent of that which thou has done
which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still
chosen, and art again called to the work."