Hands of Persecutors Persist

Hands of persecutors persist
And try to overpower
Yet they elevate us to resist
As the Lord strengthens us in that hour

Each time they undertake
To lessen us...we increase
When they try to destroy or break
The Lord strengthens the feeble knees

Ever in proportion
To the power Satan enlists
We receive a greater portion
Of Light and intelligence



“Every time they persecute and try to overcome this people, they elevate us, weaken their own hands, and strengthen the hands and arms of this people. And every time they undertake to lessen our number, they increase it. And when they try to destroy the faith and virtue of this people, the Lord strengthens the feeble knees, and confirms the wavering in faith and power in God, in light, and intelligence. Righteousness and power with God increase in this people in proportion as the Devil struggles to destroy it.”

President Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954), 351.