1 Nephi 19

(Below is a list of questions and quotes that help me think about each verse as I read it. The numbers represent the verses in the chapter.)

As you liken the scriptures to yourself and to the situations in your life, spiritual blessings will be yours.

1-24. What has the Lord done and what is he doing to encourage you to come home and live with him again?

7. What are some things that you consider special or sacred? How does it make you feel when someone makes fun of or mocks those things?

8-10. What phrases in these verses teach you about the nature and character of Jesus Christ?  How do these teachings increase your love for the Savior?

9. What things did the Savior suffer? Have there been times in your life when you chose not to retaliate after a wrong was done to you? How did you feel? How does being forgiving bless your life?

13-16. Why were the Israelites hated and scattered?

"Our Israelite forbears were scattered because they rejected the gospel, defiled the priesthood, forsook the church, and departed from the kingdom. They were scattered because they turned from The Lord, worshipped false gods, and walked in all the ways of the heathen nations. They were scattered because they forsook the Abrahamic covenant, trampled under their feet the holy ordinances, and rejected The Lord Jehovah, who is The Lord Jesus, of whom all their prophets testified." -- Bruce R McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 515

23. What can you learn from the words of Isaiah? What does it mean to liken the scriptures to ourselves? 

If to liken means to apply, how would you answer the following questions: If I were in a similar situation, how would I act? Do I act like anyone in this story? Why did The Lord include this scripture s or situation in the scriptures? What can I learn from these verses that can apply to my life?

"Do you read the scriptures..., as though you were writing them, a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your workmen or with your households." --Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 128