Lessons of 2026
Lesson No. Thirty-Four

Constitution Day - September 17, 1787

The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The convention was initially intended to improve the ineffective Articles of Confederation. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, among other well respected delegates, advocated the idea that a new form of government was necessary. George Washington, a proponent of a stronger national government, was elected to serve as president of the convention. Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17 of each year. We should be very aware of the importance of this celebration.

The adoption of The United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, 239 years ago, is one of the most significant events in world history because it was part of the divine sequence, established by the Lord, to prepare for the restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith and eventually for His Second Coming. (See Lessons of 2026; Lesson No. Twenty-Nine, Divinely Orchestrated Sequences Include the United States Constitution). The Lord said that He “established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose….” (D&C 101:80). If the Lord established the Constitution, as He said He did, we should do all that we can to understand it and implement its purposes.

The Lord’s prophets in this dispensation have loved and reverenced the Constitution. Three examples follow:

The Prophet Joseph Smith - Joseph inherited a strong sense of personal liberty and patriotism. "'Love of liberty was diffused into my soul by my grandfathers while they dandled me on their knees,' said Joseph. On one occasion the Prophet proclaimed, 'It is one of the first principles of my life, and one that I have cultivated from childhood, having been taught it by my father, to allow everyone the liberty of conscience. I am the greatest advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on the earth. In my feelings I am always ready to die for the protection of the weak and oppressed in their just rights'” (Matthew B. Brown, Joseph Smith - The Man - The Mission - The Message, pp. 5-7)

President Ezra Taft Benson - In the fall of 1986 the First Presidency, consisting of President Ezra Taft Benson and his councilors Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley, and Thomas S. Monson, invited Jack Kemp for a visit. Kemp had been a well-known professional quarterback, a member of Congress, part of the Reagan administration, and now a candidate for President of the U.S. As chairman of the Utah Republican Party I accompanied him. As the visit was winding down President Benson gave him a Book of Mormon and said, “Congressman Kemp this book is true, and if you want to be President of the United States you need to know what it teaches.” I was amazed!!

The Constitution a Heavenly Banner. As Jack Kemp and I were leaving this meeting I remembered hearing about a sermon President Benson had recently given to the Sons of the Utah Pioneers entitled The Constitution a Heavenly Banner. I told President Benson that I thought Congressman Kemp would like to read it. President Benson thought that was a good idea and asked his secretary to make him a copy. Jack Kemp got his copy and left for another meeting. I then mentioned that I hoped to get a copy myself. While his secretary was making me a copy President Benson invited me, along with President Hinkley and President Monson, into his office. He was excited to show us a baseball, autographed and and given to him by Dale Murphy, a successful major leaguer who was also a well-known member of the Church.

I thought, How amazing is this, I just heard the Lord’s living Prophet testify of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and of the US Constitution to a candidate for President of the United States. Then, child-like and almost in the next breath, he was excited and grateful for a baseball autographed by a major leaguer.

President Dallin H. Oaks. President Oaks during his apostolic ministry has often spoken of the Constitution. While I was serving in the Salt Lake Temple presidency, in a private conversation after a temple devotional in 2012, President Oaks told me personally: “The greatest challenge to the Church in fulfilling its mission to take the gospel to the world is the increasing effort in many nations, including the United States, to limit religious freedom.” During the last few years the Constitution has been weighing on President Oaks’ mind. Love Your Enemies was the title of his sermon given at October 2020 general conference. In this sermon President Oaks spoke of “Constitutional Patriotism.” He taught: “the key is constitutional patriotism. We have to remain united by and through the Constitution, regardless of our ideological disagreements.”

President Oaks addressed the riots that had recently taken place in the United States in the summer of 2020, and what turned out to be prophetic concerning the riot at the Capital in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. President Oaks continued: “the Constitution protects peaceful protests. Protesters have no right to destroy, deface, or steal property or to undermine the government’s legitimate police powers. The Constitution and laws contain no invitation to revolution or anarchy….Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.” Redress of grievances by mobs is redress by illegal means. That is anarchy, a condition that has no effective governance and no formal police, which undermines rather than protects individual rights.”

Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution. In this landmark sermon given in April 2021 General Conference President Oaks explained how the Constitution is divinely inspired. He identified the following five divinely inspired principles:

Faith, Freedom, and the Common Good. This is the title of President Oaks’ recent sermon given two days ago at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on September 16, 2026 in connection Constitution Day. President Oaks began by stating the purpose of his sermon:

“I am grateful to be here in this sacred setting with many scholars, civic leaders, and others I respect. I am here to speak as part of the National Cathedral’s ongoing effort to find a better way to embody the love of God in public life, offering hope for unity and a moral framework to move forward in a divided world.

In my professional work I have always regarded the United States Constitution as a model for a diverse people to achieve self-government….I read our history to teach that “Creating common ground is a key purpose of the Constitution. The Constitution require us to deal consistently with people who disagree with us. It compels a divided people to build coalitions that allow them to act together for the common good.”

Significantly, President Oaks continued by tying his study of the Constitution to his responsibility as an Apostle of Jesus Christ: “In these remarks I do not speak for any political party or pressure group. I speak for the United States Constitution, which I have studied for 70 years. I speak from my experience as a law clerk to Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, my 15 years as a professor of law and my 3½ years as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court. More recently, I speak from 42 years as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, responsible to study the meaning of the divinely inspired principles of the United States Constitution.”

Testimony. I add my testimony to the divinity of the United States Constitution using the words of 28 year old Abraham Lincoln when he started his political career. Lincoln warned that the greatest threat to our nation was suicide. I believe that is still true.

“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

Lincoln concluded with the importance of the law and the Constitution: “Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap--let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;--let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.” To what Lincoln said, I say “Amen”.

Released on September 18th. 2026.