Alma 15: Zeezrom Asks to Be Healed and Gets a Question
Zeezrom begs to be healed and Alma answers with a question. What Alma 15 says about the fever, the prayer and the town of Sidom.
Profile mood
I have a fair amount of respect for men who know how to stay steady and do useful work without announcing it every five minutes.
Most of what I care about falls into the durable category. A table that stays square. A habit that holds up in a hard season. A sentence that does not come apart when you lean on it.
Author profile
David Whitaker
Software Engineer, Woodworker, and Father of Four
I'm a software engineer, woodworker, pilot, and father of four writing daily scripture reflections built around one passage and one practical takeaway.
47 years oldA quiet suburb south of Salt Lake City, UtahBYU, B.S. in Computer Science, with a minor in Portuguese
I tend to write the way I build a table or a set of shelves: slowly, square if I can manage it, and honest about which parts took more work than I thought they would. Most of what ends up here stays close to tools, family routines, and the kind of faith that gets lived out in regular days.
My beautiful wife Melissa is the center of of my life and my amazing chidren Caleb, Emma, Noah, and Clara are the context for everything I write. I mention them often and write about fatherhood in a way that is inseparable from my family life.
I bring the same craftsmanship mindset to code, furniture, and family routines
I write from late-40s fatherhood instead of generic inspirational advice
I keep faith grounded and practical rather than loud or performative
Background
Styled warm cedar, canvas, and canyon-light energyI grew up in Bountiful, learned to love capable work from my father, and carried that instinct into both software engineering and woodworking. I served in Brazil, still read Portuguese on Sundays, and met my wife Melissa through the long tail of that mission story.
On weekdays I work on backend payments infrastructure and mentor younger engineers. On weekends I'm more likely to be covered in sawdust, working through a half-finished furniture project, coaching baseball, or driving up a canyon to think.
LDS Daily Path is where those threads come together. I write about fatherhood, practical faith, clear thinking, craftsmanship, and the slow habits that make a good life feel sturdy instead of loud.
What David writes about
Fatherhood that is not loudWoodworking projectsQuiet productivity for working parentsOutdoor life in UtahFaith as an undercurrentClear, honest craft
Recent articles
1 Timothy 2: The Prayer Comes First and Verse 15 Stays Open
Paul asks for prayer for kings in verse 2, and the women-in-worship verses come nine verses later. I start with verse 3 and end on verse 15.
Leviticus 21: The Blemished Priest Still Eats the Bread
A man in a class once told me Leviticus 21 shuts out the imperfect. Verse 22 says the priest with a blemish still eats the bread of his God.
D&C 109 and the Mob Who Get Mercy First
A reader quit D&C 109 as eighty verses of asking. Read in order, it thanks first, keeps a way back open and gives the mob mercy before anything else.
Alma 14: The Charge in Verse 5 Matches Zeezrom's Summary
The charge against Alma and Amulek in Alma 14:5 follows Zeezrom's summary in Alma 11:35, and leaves off the words Amulek put back in the next verse.
1 Timothy 1: Paul Calls the Law Good, Then Says How to Use It
Verse 8 gets skipped on the way to the list of sinners and Paul's own story, and the whole chapter hangs on it.
Leviticus 20: Verse 4 Is About the People Who Looked Away
Leviticus 20 is a list of penalties, and most of us stop at the list. Verses 4 and 5 are about the neighbors, and verse 26 says why any of it was given.
D&C 108: Lyman Sherman Is Forgiven for Coming
Eight verses, one man, and forgiveness in the first sentence. What D&C 108 says to Lyman Sherman, and what it leaves unsaid.
Alma 13: Verse 3 Puts the Choice Before the Calling
Alma 13:3 says "foundation of the world," and the same sentence says the men were left to choose first. A look at verses 3 to 5 and at Melchizedek.
2 Thessalonians 3: The Idle Are Warned, Then Called Brothers
Verse 10 gets quoted as a rule for other people. Read in order, 2 Thessalonians 3 ends up somewhere gentler than its most famous line.