2nd Nephi Chapter 7:1-11

1^aYea, for thus saith the Lord: Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever? For thus saith the Lord: Where is the ^bbill of your mother’s ^cdivorcement? To whom have I put thee away, or to which of my ^dcreditors have I ^esold you? Yea, to whom have I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

 2Wherefore, when I came, there was no man; when I ^acalled, yea, there was none to answer. O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I ^bdry up the ^csea, I make their ^drivers a wilderness and their ^efish to stink because the waters are dried up, and they die because of thirst.

 3I clothe the heavens with ^ablackness, and I make ^bsackcloththeir covering.

 4The Lord God hath given me the ^atongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.

 5The Lord God hath opened mine ^aear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

 6I gave my back to the ^asmiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from ^bshame and spitting.

 7For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ^aashamed.

 8And the Lord is near, and he ^ajustifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will ^bsmite him with the strength of my mouth.

 9For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall ^acondemnme, behold, all they shall ^bwax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up.

 10Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the^avoice of his servant, that ^bwalketh in darkness and hath no light?

 11Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of ^ayour fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. ^bThis shall ye have of mine hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Thoughts:

Jason:

We work out our own salvation. It is our choices and our attributes we gain that will determine what our eternal place will be. We choose our eternal path by the things we do here on earth. The Lord indicates that there is nothing he can't do, and that surely includes forgiving us of out wrong doings.

The image of the Lord standing with us is one we should have in our minds. Truly he will be there for us. Through the spirit he is able to touch the lives of everyone at the same time. There is no limit to what he can do for us. It we develop the ability to work with him then we can not fail. If we could see him there I think we would make different choices at times. Fear and shame would be replaced with confidence. Although we can not see him at our side the Lord is with us. The spirit is our constant companion if we will do the work of the Lord. We literally have a member of the Godhead to stand at our side at all times and places and in all things. This gift is given to those who accept the gospel and live worthy to invite his presence. The promise we are given is not that the spirit might be with us but that he will be. This is a promise from God and therefore one that should not be doubted. There is no guarantee that problems will not arise, in fact I guarantee that they will. However problems are opportunities for us to grow and become more like our father in heaven if we handle them the way that he would. As we develop attributes that he has and we become as he is. 
No matter what we accomplish on this earth. No matter how big our "fire" may be with our fellow men it is not brighter than Christ. We can not by ourselves light our way back to our Heavenly Father. If we spend our time relying on the light of our own lives then we will come short of the presence of the father because we lack the sufficient knowledge/attributes/light essential for this life.