Desolation, Doom, and Desperate Prayer

In my devotions this morning I read the last two chapters of Jeremiah which describe the invasion of Jerusalem and its destruction. Then I read all of Lamentations which expresses the prophet's grief over that destruction. As I read I found my heart crying out to God for mercy on His church today and in coming generations.

Jerusalem had once been a city of great joy and holiness as it was the place of God's dwelling and blessing. She was a place of worship, of prosperity, of the real and felt presence of God. The temple was there. The kings lived there. The manifold grace of God was there.

But sin crept in, and it hadn't taken long. David had ruled Jerusalem with a whole heart for God; His son Solomon had ruled with half a heart; his sons and grand-sons with no heart. And from there, with only a few periods of revival mixed in, each generation had become more evil than the ones before. Finally God had enough and allowed Babylon to come in and destroy.

Jerusalem was laid to ruin. And as Jeremiah walked the desolate streets of the once happy, once glorious, once filled-with-God city, he mourned what once was, but was no longer.

This past Sunday, our church building was filled with the glories and beauties of God. Worship was sweet and glad and holy. The Word was preached. The hurting were comforted; the faithful were honored; the lost were found; the glory of God was among His people.

But what will become of this in years to come? As I read this morning, God moved me to cry out for coming generations; for this generation. How quickly we can wander! How quickly we can stray! How quickly we can become complacent! How quickly we can grow spiritually fat and forget God! And how quickly God can remove His favor so that the city, the church once glorious can become a ruin.

I pictured the building in which we worship, and imagined it desolate. I imagined it silent, with no songs of praise, no preaching of the gospel, no celebrations of God's grace, no holy transactions between God and His people; a place desolate and doomed. And I realized that there is an enemy still who seeks to destroy and devour the people of God as he always has.

Lifting my eyes from the page of Scripture this morning I raised them to a picture of my children that rests in the little room where I meet God each morning, and I cried out for each of them and for all their peers: "O God keep them faithful to the covenant; keep them faithful to Your truth; keep them faithful to Your gospel and to Your law--so that Your church will not be a desolation in years to come."

Friends, whatever church you attend can become a desolation in a few short years. It can become a desolation in your lifetime. It's possible for it to happen so quickly that before you die you could walk the halls of your church building and mourn the loss of what once was.

I do not mean to spoil your day with gloom and doom. But I do mean to call you to vigilance and prayer. O pray for your church. Pray for your pastor/shepherds. Pray for your own soul that you would have no delight but in God, no truce with any sin, no infatuation with the world, no compromise with any error.

Pray for this and the coming generation, that we would not see in our day or in any day to come, the doom and desolation caused by the enemy, or by a God who has had enough with the church.

Pray that the halls of Trinity Fellowship Church--both spiritual and physical--would always be filled with the songs and sounds of a holy people who are passionate for their God, who hate sin, and who love nothing but His Name.