Psalm 90: Reflections on the Death of a Church

For all our days have declined in Your fury; we have finished our years with a sigh.
- Psalm 90:9

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
- T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men" 

O Lord, we've come to the ending of an era, a ministry, and a dream. Eternally, it's a blip. To us, though, it is a change of great significance. It grieves us, brings us uncertainty, and casts a fear-shadow over us.

We know our Jesus has walked through grief like this, and so we thank You that we may join in the fellowship of His suffering. We know that this circumstance does not surprise You, and we trust that You will use it to grow Your kingdom in exciting ways over the days, months, and years ahead.

As our prayer has been all through this process, so we repeat it this morning. May Your will be done on earth and in this fellowship as it is done in Heaven. 

When we reach the human ends of things, we see them expire with a sigh, or as one of our poets says, with a whimper. We know Your work is not like this; Your word does not return void and you continue Your labor in us unbroken until the glorious day of Christ Jesus. We thank You that You deal in shouts, not whimpers. 

With the Psalmist, we ask for your work in us:

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days...
Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands. 
Psalm 90:14, 16-17

Thank You, O Lord, that while this is an ending, it is not the end, and it is no lifeless whimper.