"The Testimony is Sealed"

[ZealouslyStriving]

This is a song/anthem I wrote on June 27th, 2023 as I sat pondering the martyrdom and reading D&C 135:

 

"The Testimony is Sealed" (triumphantly)

 

Like a lamb to the slaughter

Went the prophet of the Lord

And left a name and fame

That can ne'er be slain!

 

Chorus: 

It is sealed!

It is sealed !

The testimony is sealed!

By the best blood of that generation

the testimony is sealed!

 

Ever faithful his dear brother

Went with him to certain death

And on that fateful June day

Breathed his final breath!

 

(Chorus)

 

In life they weren't divided

And in death not seperated

The two brothers e'er united

Shed their martyr's blood!

 

(Chorus)

 

[Pyreaux]

I used to have a thought that Joseph's martyrdom could actually be a blood sacrifice for mending the Everlasting Covenant (the Testament) that was broken since the Apostasy. It makes sense to me, reforge the broken oath with blood, but Jesus was to be the last blood sacrifice. So, it its might be poetic symmetry of ancient times when the High Priests offered their own blood.

Edited March 2, 2024 by Pyreaux

[Calm]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:26 PM, Pyreaux said:

Jesus was to be the last blood sacrifice

And his Atonement is infinite.

Other sacrifices were types, foreshadows; they did not mend anything.  Only Christ was able to mend the Covenant being the only divine and sinless sacrifice.

Symbolic symmetry or being about something besides the Atonement if not purely symbolic makes more sense to me.

Edited June 27 by Calm

[Stargazer]

On 2/28/2024 at 10:19 PM, ZealouslyStriving said:

This is a song/anthem I wrote on June 27th, 2023 as I sat pondering the martyrdom and reading D&C 135:

 

"The Testimony is Sealed" (triumphantly)

 

Like a lamb to the slaughter

Went the prophet of the Lord

And left a name and fame

That can ne'er be slain!

 

Chorus: 

It is sealed!

It is sealed !

The testimony is sealed!

By the best blood of that generation

the testimony is sealed!

 

Ever faithful his dear brother

Went with him to certain death

And on that fateful June day

Breathed his final breath!

 

(Chorus)

 

In life they weren't divided

And in death not seperated

The two brothers e'er united

Shed their martyr's blood!

 

(Chorus)

 

What's the tune?

[ZealouslyStriving]

On 3/2/2024 at 2:52 AM, Stargazer said:

What's the tune?

The stanzas (?) are vaguely reminiscent of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". The chorus is all it's own. I don't read or write music, I need someone to help me with that. Maybe there's an app?

[Alch]

I really like this! There are a few things I wonder about, though.

In the first verse, the words start sorrowful, but then reach more positive at the end. No problems with that, it's a good progression of ideas.

However, the second verse goes from noble, which can work with sorrowful, but then goes darker, which would be really hard to work with the positive note of the first verse.

The third verse takes the triumphant theme to it's climax. That works with the nobility that was in the second verse, but not as well with the first. Now the second half jumps from positive, to negative, to positive. It would be a challenge to create voicings which could communicate all this.

More likely I'm reading into the more crude interpretations of some phrases, and you probably have a much better idea of the emotion that you want each one to be enveloped in.

[ZealouslyStriving]

On 3/4/2024 at 9:43 AM, Alch said:

However, the second verse goes from noble, which can work with sorrowful, but then goes darker, which would be really hard to work with the positive note of the first verse.

It is meant to be triumphant throughout. No somber notes. It celebrates the faith and courage of Hyrum to go with his brother to the inevitable.

[ZealouslyStriving]

I recently discovered Suno AI and was thus able to bring my song to life!

https://suno.com/s/SBuOLvVpU29X5yVz

I also have a much more, uh, aggressive version, if anyone is interested.

[ZealouslyStriving]

I'm still experimenting with the sound but I think the following Messianic/Celtic fusion sound will be the sound of my completely made up singing group:

https://suno.com/s/q0tyBrQnDaixgtNV

 

[longview]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:26 PM, Pyreaux said:

I used to have a thought that Joseph's martyrdom could actually be a blood sacrifice for mending the Everlasting Covenant (the Testament) that was broken since the Apostasy. It makes sense to me, reforge the broken oath with blood, but Jesus was to be the last blood sacrifice. So, it its might be poetic symmetry of ancient times when the High Priests offered their own blood.

Many years ago I attended BYU Education Week. One class was on whether Abe Lincoln ever read the Book of Mormon he supposedly borrowed out of the library. The presenter believes Pres. Lincoln was to seal his testimony in blood as a sacrifice for making this major reformation for eliminating slavery and for preserving the Union.

[Calm]

26 minutes ago, longview said:

The presenter believes Pres. Lincoln was to seal his testimony in blood

Of the Book of Mormon or something else?

[longview]

15 hours ago, Calm said:

Of the Book of Mormon or something else?

Not of the BoM. I guess you missed the something else.

[Calm]

6 hours ago, longview said:

Not of the BoM. I guess you missed the something else.

Then the possibility that Lincoln read the Book of Mormon is irrelevant to his sacrifice for eliminating slavery and preserving the Union it seems to me.

I was trying to figure out how you were attempting to connect them. 

While the Book of Mormon was included in the books the Library of Congress sent him, it doesn’t look like he specifically requested it, seems like he was more interested in Mormons themselves than our sacred text.

Quote

But the question was far from solved, and on Nov. 18, Lincoln attacked the Mormon question in a most Lincolnian way. Instead of ordering an invasion, Lincoln ordered information. Specifically, he asked the Library of Congress to send him a pile of books about Mormonism, so that the aggregator-in-chief could better understand them. These included “The Book of Mormon” in its original 1831 edition, and three other early studies of the Mormons, with extensive, lurid chapters covering their polygamy. For some reason, he also ordered a volume of Victor Hugo, in French, a language he could not read.

Fortified by his reading, Lincoln came to a great decision. And that decision was to do nothing. Sometimes that, too, can be a form of leadership — what Churchill called “a masterly inactivity.”

https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/lincoln-and-the-mormons/

There is no comment in his writings or speech that can be tied to that text and since he was known to often record in his diaries, letters, etc books he read, seems like at most he scan through it, but no deep reading enough to make an impression on him.  The claim of the phrase “instrument of in the hands of God” was from the Book of Mormon ignores that Lincoln was very Bible literate and while that specific phrase is not in the Bible iirc, the idea is. (Romans 6:13) (ngrams pulls up variations like “instrument in the hands of Providence” or “divine Providence”, “instrument in the hands of the great Creator”, also “instrument in the hands of Justice” and other divine references.

It was also the Executive Mansion that requested them, which may or may not be only for Lincoln given one of the books was in  French.  He was interested in Mormons at the time, but I wonder if he also had people read things for him and give their summary and opinion.

That his reading of the book was limited at best is speculation, of course, but stronger evidence than the speculation he read it, which is based solely on possession, which may or may not have been intentional. 
 

Edited June 28 by Calm

[Stargazer]

On 6/27/2026 at 5:13 PM, ZealouslyStriving said:

I recently discovered Suno AI and was thus able to bring my song to life!

https://suno.com/s/SBuOLvVpU29X5yVz

I also have a much more, uh, aggressive version, if anyone is interested.

Wow! That hits well and truly. 

ETA: and thanks for bringing Suno AI to my attention!

Edited June 28 by Stargazer

[Stargazer]

On 6/27/2026 at 6:31 PM, ZealouslyStriving said:

I'm still experimenting with the sound but I think the following Messianic/Celtic fusion sound will be the sound of my completely made up singing group:

https://suno.com/s/q0tyBrQnDaixgtNV

 

Not bad, but I like the Celtic Mix version best!

[ZealouslyStriving]

2 hours ago, Stargazer said:

Wow! That hits well and truly. 

ETA: and thanks for bringing Suno AI to my attention!

Suno is amazing!

[ZealouslyStriving]

Here my newest one about the First Vision:

https://suno.com/s/cHSBa3yjkXkfvUEC

"Out Of Darkness, Into Light"

[longview]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

Then the possibility that Lincoln read the Book of Mormon is irrelevant to his sacrifice for eliminating slavery and preserving the Union it seems to me.
I was trying to figure out how you were attempting to connect them. 

The "connection" was that I attended BYU Education Week. Most of the classes are presented one hour each of the five days. So there were many topics concerning Lincoln. The point is God had a hand throughout Abe's life.

2 hours ago, Calm said:

While the Book of Mormon was included in the books the Library of Congress sent him, it doesn’t look like he specifically requested it, seems like he was more interested in Mormons themselves than our sacred text.

That angle is interesting but I don't remember the presenter mentioning the Library of Congress (at least he did not dwell much on it). He was referring to a much earlier time before Lincoln ran for office. I think he checked out of the local library where he was living.

Another topic the presenter talked about was Lincoln wrote a big manuscript containing his religious thoughts. He handed it to a friend who was inebriated who dismissed it and tossed into the fireplace. A terrible loss to history!

[ZealouslyStriving]

4 hours ago, Stargazer said:

Not bad, but I like the Celtic Mix version best!

Here's the Celtic version of the new one. 

https://suno.com/s/cdYbfNCxE6epOwMz

Now I'm second guessing myself. I think Celtic is really what I'm going for. 🤷🏻‍♂️😂

Edited June 29 by ZealouslyStriving

[Stargazer]

16 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

Suno is amazing!

I signed up, and immediately upvoted the song. And commented. I'm "cyberherbalist" there.

[ZealouslyStriving]

20 minutes ago, Stargazer said:

I signed up, and immediately upvoted the song. And commented. I'm "cyberherbalist" there.

I figured it was you after I saw your comment here, but didn't want to blow your cover and ask.

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

I figured it was you after I saw your comment here, but didn't want to blow your cover and ask.

Blow my cover? LOL! Yeah, it could blow my cover, since my IRL name, Mike Clark, is so generic that it's anonymous. There's probably tens of thousands of us in the USA alone.