At the stately funeral for the smitten Seezoram, the people demonstrated their grief with mourning and fasting. For us, mourning and fasting don’t go together naturally, but this is a typical Hebrew tradition. The Jews mourned and fasted at the death of king Saul (1 Sam 31:13, 2 Sam 1:12). Out of respect, David mourned and fasted at the death of his political enemy, Abner (2 Sam 3:35-38). From the Book of Mormon, we see that the Nephites had once before combined mourning and fasting after the death of thousands of Nephites in a vicious battle (Alma 30:2).
It seems that the fast was associated with mourning as a statement of respect and humility in honor of both God and the deceased. This is the tradition that brought the Nephites together to mourn and fast for a wicked man. Stephen D. Ricks has stated:
“I have…compared the types of and motivations for fasting in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Most interesting is the clear shift in motivation for fasting, identical in both books. In the Old Testament and pre-crucifixion passages in the Book of Mormon, the primary types include fasting as a sign of mourning (Alma 30:2), fasting following a death (Hel. 9:10), and petitionary fasting (Mosiah 27:22). The first two of these are not mentioned as types of fasting following the appearance of the resurrected Christ to the Nephites. The main type of fasting mentioned in the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon after the visit of Christ is devotional fasting practiced by the whole church.” (Ensign, Feb. 1988, p. 12)
In contrast with ancient practices, today, fasting demonstrates to God one’s spiritual integrity and sincere desire for specific blessings. In essence, the abstinence from physical food is a plea to God for more spiritual food.