Pondering - Isn't It a Good Thing?

Nephi says a strange thing at the beginning of 2 Nephi 32.  He says, " . . . why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?"  

We're constantly told that pondering is a good thing and that we need to spend more time pondering.  So why does it sound like he's rebuking them?  

In verse 8, he says, ". . . And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing."  

Here again he's lamenting that the people ponder.  What's going on here?

I suggest that the people are puzzling about spiritual things without looking in the right places.  The clues are these quotes:  "Do ye not remember . . ." and "Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock . . .".  Here's another telling quote:  " the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men . . ."

 Nephi tells them (and us) that the Lord has given them everything they need to know; all of the tools are there for their understanding, but they aren't using them.  These are the things that they must do:

• Remember the words of the prophets (v. 2)
• Feast upon the words of Christ (v. 3)
• Ask and knock (v. 4)
• Enter in by the way and be baptized (v. 5)
• Receive the Holy Ghost (v. 5)
• Pray always (v. 8-9)
• Hearken to the Spirit  (v. 8)

I think often we do as the people of Nephi did.  We perceive problems and have a hard time finding answers.  So we watch Dr. Phil on TV, or we read People magazine to find out how the movie stars resolve their problems, or we do a Google search for the answers.  No wonder Nephi is left to mourn.  We search in all the wrong places and harden our hearts against the source of the true answers.  We will not " . . . search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto (us) in plainness, even as plain as word can be."