What's happening
This is a revelation of great promise to one man — James Covel — and it can only be fully understood alongside the short, sorrowful Section 40 that follows it, because together they tell the story of a heart that was right with God for a moment and then turned away.
James Covel was a Methodist minister of some thirty years' standing who came to Joseph Smith in early January 1831 and covenanted that he would obey whatever the Lord commanded him through the Prophet. In response, on January 5, the Lord gave Section 39 — and it is strikingly warm and generous. The Lord tells Covel thine heart is now right before me at this time, acknowledges the great sorrow of his life, names exactly why he has suffered (thou hast rejected me many times because of pride and the cares of the world), and then throws open a door: the days of thy deliverance are come, if thou wilt hearken. Be baptized, the Lord says, and a blessing so great as you never have known awaits — I have prepared thee for a greater work.
It is one of the most hopeful personal calls in the Doctrine and Covenants. And it did not take. Within days Covel turned back, and Section 40 records why. So Section 39 must be read with that ending in view: it is a genuine, open-handed offer of deliverance, made to a man whose heart was truly right at that time — and a sober reminder that a right heart in a moment is not the same as a heart that endures.
Power to become my sons (verses 1–6)
The revelation opens, like Section 34, with the gospel before the man — the Great I AM, the light and the life of the world... a light which shineth in darkness (John 1). And it gives the great Johannine promise:
But to as many as received me, gave I power to become my sons; and even so will I give unto as many as will receive me, power to become my sons. — D&C 39:4
This is John 1:11–12, with the Lord extending it forward: even so will I give unto as many as will receive me, power to become my sons. The adoption is not a one-time, first-century event; it is offered now, to Covel, to anyone. And the Lord makes the terms personal and absolute: he that receiveth my gospel receiveth me; and he that receiveth not my gospel receiveth not me (v. 5). To receive Christ and to receive His gospel are the same act. There is no receiving Jesus while declining His gospel.
I know thee (verses 7–11)
Then the Lord turns to the man with extraordinary intimacy:
And now, behold, I say unto you, my servant James, I have looked upon thy works and I know thee. And verily I say unto thee, thine heart is now right before me at this time... Nevertheless, thou hast seen great sorrow, for thou hast rejected me many times because of pride and the cares of the world. — D&C 39:7–9
I know thee. The Lord sees Covel's whole life — the works, the sorrow, and the cause of the sorrow. And He names it without cruelty: the great sorrow of this man's life has come from rejecting me many times because of pride and the cares of the world. This is a piercing diagnosis. Covel's suffering was not random misfortune; it traced to a repeated pattern of turning away under the pressures of pride and worldly concern. And yet the Lord's word is not condemnation but invitation: the days of thy deliverance are come, if thou wilt hearken... Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins... and a blessing so great as you never have known (v. 10). The man who had rejected the Lord many times is offered, one more time, a full deliverance.
Called to Ohio and the blessing in store (verses 12–24)
The Lord then lays out the greater work He has prepared: Covel is to preach the fulness of my gospel, to labor in my vineyard... and to bring forth Zion (v. 13). And He is specifically redirected — thou art not called to go into the eastern countries, but thou art called to go to the Ohio (v. 14), into the gathering. And here the revelation gives one of the great promises about the Ohio gathering:
And inasmuch as my people shall assemble themselves at the Ohio, I have kept in store a blessing such as is not known among the children of men, and it shall be poured forth upon their heads. — D&C 39:15
A blessing such as is not known among the children of men — the same endowment of power promised in Section 38, now described as a treasure kept in store. This was the prize set before Covel: not merely church membership but a share in the great outpouring the gathering would bring. The revelation closes with the harvest charge (the kingdom of heaven is at hand, v. 19) and the urgency that runs through all these calls — the time is at hand; the day or the hour no man knoweth; but it surely shall come... I come quickly (vv. 21, 24).
How the section is built
The structure is a door swung wide open. It opens with the gospel and its promise (vv. 1–6): the light of the world, power to become my sons, receiving the gospel is receiving Christ. It moves to the man, known and invited (vv. 7–11): I know thee, your sorrow came from pride and worldly care, but the days of thy deliverance are come — arise and be baptized. And it widens to the work and the blessing in store (vv. 12–24): labor in the vineyard, go to Ohio, where a blessing such as is not known awaits. Everything in the architecture is invitation; nothing is closed. Which is precisely what makes Section 40 so sorrowful — the door was fully open, and Covel chose not to walk through it.
How this sits in the documentary record
Where this lands
Section 39 is one of the most generous invitations in the Doctrine and Covenants, and its generosity is the point. The Lord met James Covel exactly where he was — a man whose long life had been marked by great sorrow because he kept turning away under pride and the cares of the world — and instead of holding the pattern against him, He declared the days of thy deliverance are come. He offered a man who had rejected Him many times a blessing such as you never have known. That is the shape of grace: it does not wait for us to have a clean record; it opens the door wide to the very people who have shut it before.
But the section cannot be read honestly without Section 40, and the pairing is the lesson. Covel's heart really was right at that time. The door really was open. And the cares of the world that had cost him so much sorrow rose up one more time and choked the word before it could root. The tragedy of James Covel is not that he was a hypocrite; it is that he was sincere in a moment and could not carry the sincerity through the first wave of fear. His story is the parable of the sower made personal — the seed that springs up with gladness and withers when the sun of persecution rises. Section 39 holds the open door before each of us; Section 40 asks whether we will still be standing inside it when the cost arrives.