Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, July 12, 2026. This week is No. 5,052 of the broadcast.
Please note: Reservations are needed to attend “Music & the Spoken Word” in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Find out more about how to make reservations here.
Social platforms have introduced many new phenomena. One of them is placing a hashtag in front of a word-tagging it so it becomes searchable.
It’s estimated that the phrase #blessed has been used in more than 100 million posts on Instagram alone. (See “#Blessed May Not Mean What You Think,” by Christine Gordon, TGC, March 24, 2019, thegospelcoalition.org.) Often, this tag is used to highlight something received or experienced — a gift, vacation or a special moment.
But blessings from heaven are more than moments of good fortune. They are often tender, specific, timely and merciful gifts — given in love by God to His children. In many ways, God’s blessings are an extension of His hand in our lives — guiding, supporting and preparing us according to His will.
Even when it feels as though we are not receiving the blessings we need, it does not mean He is absent. Some blessings simply take time to be recognized or to unfold.
Divine blessings come in many ways.
Some are given simply because we are children of God. He desires to bless all of us. As the New Testament records, “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
Other blessings are conditioned on our obedience to God’s commandments (see Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21). The book of Malachi teaches, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now herewith … if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing” (Malachi 3:10). These blessings require us to act in faith before we receive.
Still others are held in reserve, waiting for us to ask with a sincere heart. Jesus, teaching His disciples, declared, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (John 16:24, New Revised Standard Version).
God is eager to bless us. Just as He promised covenant Israel that he would “rejoice over them [and] do them good,” even with His “whole heart and … whole soul” (Jeremiah 32:41), He likewise desires to bless us today.
As we look for the blessings He has already granted, strive to act in obedience to His commandments and ask in faith for the blessings we need — fully trusting His timing — we can rest assured, knowing we are in His hands and in His sight.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
