Alma’s Song of Lamentation: How Long, O Lord?

We know there are songs in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. But is there singing in the actual Book of Mormon?

Alma 31 in the Book of Mormon describes how Alma and his brethren visited the Zoramites, an apostate group that had gathered in the land of Antionum. Alma had previously heard that the Zoramites had gone astray, but he didn’t know the full extent of their apostasy until he saw for himself. They were teaching a false concept of election. They believed God had chosen them to be saved, but their hearts were set upon riches and the vain things of this world. Their prideful form of worship involved going up one at a time to a high structure in the middle of the synagogue called the Rameumptom. Each person would stand on the platform and recite the same prayer with hands raised up to heaven.

When Alma witnessed this, he was very sorrowful. He had already been through a lot during his tenure as high priest. Things had finally started to settle down, and now there was this. He knew that the Zoramite apostasy was a danger, because there was a strong possibility that they would enter into a correspondence with the Lamanites.

Before going out to preach to the Zoramites, Alma offered a prayer. As I was studying this chapter, I started to realize that there is something very special about this prayer.