The Church’s Desolation.

Well may Thy servants mourn, my God,
The Church’s desolation;
The state of Zion calls aloud
For grief and lamentation.
Once she was all alive to Thee
And thousands were converted,
But now a sad reverse we see,
Her glory is departed.

And has religion left the Church
Without a trace behind her?
Where shall I go, where shall I search,
That I once more may find her?
Adieu, ye proud, ye light and gay,
I’ll seek the brokenhearted,
Who weep when they of Zion say,
Her glory is departed.

Some few, like good Elijah stand,
While thousands have revolted,
In earnest for the heav’nly land
They never yet have halted.
With such religion doth remain,
For they are not perverted;
Oh may they all through men regain
The glory that’s departed.

J.T. White, 1844

These words fit the tune ‘The Church’s Desolation’ from the Sacred Harp. I wonder, if J.T. White wrote these words about the Church in 1844… what would he dare write about the Church to-day?

Above is a clip of a singing of ‘The Church’s Desolation’. It cuts in towards the end of the first verse.