1 BEHOLD, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant William, yea, even the Lord of the whole earth, thou art called and chosen; and after thou hast been baptized by water, [ First responsibility of Phelps is to get baptized. ] which if you do with an eye single to my glory, [ "If" puts the responsibility to receive the blessings directly on Phelps. Usually this is only suggested by the Lord - implicit; however here it is explicit suggesting maybe Phelps needed a little extra prompting. We see from the latter part of section 55 that he might have had a little pride. Also the fact that he was excommunicated is a witness to this warning from the Lord, that he needs to keep his eye on doing the will of the Lord. Good warning for all of us I suppose. ] you shall have a remission of your sins and a reception of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands;

2 And then thou shalt be ordained by the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., to be an elder unto this church, to preach repentance and remission of sins by way of baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.

3 And on whomsoever you shall lay your hands, if they are contrite before me, you shall have power to give the Holy Spirit.

4 And again, you shall be ordained to assist my servant Oliver Cowdery to do the work of printing, and of selecting and writing books for schools in this church, that little children also may receive instruction before me as is pleasing unto me. [ Phelps was instrumental in publishing the first Hymnal, The Book of Commandments, The Evening and the Morning Star as well as other texts and periodicals for the church. In July 1831, the Lord made William Phelps a free agent. He had power to act independently, and in Doctrine and Covenants section 55, the Lord gave him a commandment to act upon. He was to assist Oliver Cowdery as a steward over the Church’s printing press and publication efforts, tasks he carried out with a paper and a press purchased with consecrated resources (see D&C 55:4). With the power to act, talents and property to act upon, and a commandment from the Lord, Phelps was accountable to the Lord for what he did with what the Lord had given him: agency, talent, time, a printing press, ink, and paper. In March 1834, Joseph wrote to William Phelps from Kirtland to correct an errant sense of ownership: “Bro. William—You say ‘my press, my types, &c.’ W[h]ere, our brethren ask, did you get them, & how came they to be ‘yours?’ No hardness, but a caution, for you know that it is, We, not I, and all things are the Lord’s, and he opened the hearts of his Church to furnish these things, or we should not have been privileged with using them.” (Postscript, Joseph Smith to Edward Partridge and Others, March 30, 1834, in Joseph Smith, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), 338–39.) ]

5 And again, verily I say unto you, for this cause you shall take your journey with my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that you may be planted in the land of your inheritance to do this work.

6 And again, let my servant Joseph Coe also take his journey with them. The residue shall be made known hereafter, even as I will. [ Referring to the restoration of Israel; see Amos 9 and D&C 52:2. ] Amen.

 

[ Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine & Covenants 55 Phelps was prominent in early Church history, was excommunicated over problems in Missouri, and subsequently rejoined and moved to Utah, dying there in full fellowship. Most prominent among his enduring legacy are the hymns he penned which are commonly sung to this day. Excerpt from History of the Church About the middle of June, while we were preparing for our journey to Missouri, William W. Phelps and his family arrived among us "to do the will of the Lord," he said: So I inquired of the Lord concerning him and received the following: [text of D&C 55 quoted] (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, volume 1, pages 184-185)]