SELECTIONS | AdventAI

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1857

SELECTIONS.

“O Lord, Revive thy Work!”

SHALL this be the cry of the people of God? shall it come from the depths of the soul, earnest, importunate and agonizing? Will they plead as did Habakkuk in the times of calamity? “O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy?”

It is a sad thought that as we have been tending to the condition of public crime which now exists, we have boasted before the world of our virtue, and in this increasing deflection and iniquity, even the teachers of religion have united in the glorification of the nation, and have too generally overlooked, or apologized for, some of the greatest crimes of the land.

The records of public crimes occurring from day to day are truly appalling. Intemperance, checked for a time, is rapidly increasing, as also are Sabbath-breaking and licentiousness. Robbery, violence and murder abound, and “blood toucheth blood.” Public and private integrity are fearfully shaken, and the greatest enormities are committed in the name of law, and under the sanction of government.

It is melancholy to trace the influence of slavery, and the satanic doctrines of its advocates. It is sad to see how churches, ecclesiastical bodies, missionary and other societies have given to it comfort and power; while rulers and judges have scoffed at the higher Law, and prostituted our national charter in support of the conspiracy against humanity and religion, and have in turn been sustained by the popular vote.

As iniquities have increased, the love of many has waxed cold, and luxury and pride have abounded in the church. Although the means of grace have generally been upheld, comparatively few instances of revivals of pure religion have existed, and holiness of life, and consecration of time, and talent, and substance, to God have not prevailed. In the possession of riches, or the haste to obtain them, professors of religion have not discovered that they were “poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked.”

God has met us in the midst of our folly. In the midst of riches and abundant harvest, he has brought us into financial confusion and distress. In our cities thousands are thrown out of employment, and, in circumstances of pressing want, are demanding employment, and crying for bread. Credit and confidence are gone, and “all the foundations are out of course.”

If now there is help, it must come from God. Temporal relief will not suffice. Our greatest need is spiritual. No calamity is so much to be dreaded as being forsaken of God. It may be that his chastisements will lead to reformation, and we may then obtain deliverance from both temporal and spiritual calamity, for He is a God that delighteth in mercy, and in the return of his backslidden people, and desireth the salvation of all. When we shall return unto him, and the cry, “O Lord, revive thy work,” shall go up from the hearts of his people, when the ministers of the sanctuary shall weep between the porch and the altar, and all shall put away the evil of their doings, and break off their sins by righteousness, then will he have mercy, and appear in glory to build up Zion. Incense and a pure offering will then be paid to him, and the liberal offerings of his people, both from their necessity and their abundance, will indicate that God is enthroned in their hearts, and they are prepared by his grace to labor for the conversion of their children and their neighbors. Then indeed will effectual prayer be offered, and intelligence shall come to us from the West and the South of the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit, and the conversion of many souls. O that the whole Church may join in the prayer, “O Lord revive thy work, in wrath remember mercy.”—Am. Missionary.