A Call to Anguish by David

Wilkerson
Woe to Us

Amos 6 says,

1Woe to you who are

complacent in Zion,
and to you who feel secure on
Mount Samaria,
You notable men of the foremost nation
4
You put off the evil day
and bring near a reign of terror.
5
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.
5
You strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.
6
You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7
Therefore you will be among the
first to go into exile;
your feasting and lounging will end.
Amos 6:1-7, NIV

Amos six has been reverberating through my spirit for months. The Holy Spirit has kept it continually on
my mind and in my prayers. Ive been convicted a bit deeper every day by the application the Holy Spirit
has made to my own heart and life:
1
Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,

Woe is an exclamation of grief, distress, lament. God is in deep grief over our spiritual ruin
my spiritual ruin. Woe to us who are complacent in the Church. Who dwell at ease and feel secure. Who
confidently lean on the security of the land (America, the foremost nation of the world), supposing
that notwithstanding our iniquities, we should be saved because we are America and after all, God
blesses America.
1
and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation
The King James Version says:

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of
the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! (Emphasis added)

We, too, trust in the mountain of Samaria. We trust in the security of our job, the strength of our family,
and the pleasures we enjoythe seemingly unshakable attributes of the here and now.

To be at ease means we have no true sight of sin, no concern about Gods impending judgments, and
no deep concern for our own souls or the souls of others. The latter is key, for to fain real anguishto
manufacture what should be God-given griefin order to attempt to preserve a nation is disingenuous.
When if we seek what mattersseeing ourselves and others as God sees us, ceasing to play games with
Godwe become salt and light, and the nation is changed.

The ease of Gods people manifested itself in the lives of the Israelites and manifests itself in our
lives today through:

presumption because we trust in the might of mountain of Samaria

procrastination because we put far off the day of doom

cruelty to men because we cause the day of terror to come near

love of self through all of our self-indulgenceour prioritization of comfort, pleasure and
entertainment

lust for prosperity through our preoccupation with and worship of riches and materialism.
The god of Baal was considered the god of provision, the god who gave rain for crops. Baal
worship has entered the House of God in America. The Church is given over to worship of Baal
the god of prosperity and provision.

carelessness through our drunken stupor. We are drunk on perversion, entertainment,

sensuality, sex, pornography, obscenity, lewdness, comfort and compromise.

self-indulgence because we live not for Christ but for ourselves

4
You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror.

You never imagine that our actions as a Church and as a nation are accruing consequences and
judgments. You put far off the approaching judgment. You, at best, believe God will simply one day rain
down revival and renewal upon the land without any repentance and at worst see no need for
awakening at all, believing God to be something other than the righteous judge Scripture declares Him
to be (Psalm 7:11; 9:8; 96:13). In so doing, we continue in our iniquity, harden our hearts, and bring the
day of personal and national reapingjudgment and consequencenearer.
5
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened
calves.
You are numbed by vast material wealth. The beds mentioned here are either sofas or beds. They
were ornamented with inlaid ivory. There was a great deal of luxury and abundant riches among the
Israelites at this time. This was in the time of Jeroboam the second, when the kingdom had enjoyed a
long peace.

All of us, though we may feel we are struggling financially, still enjoy vast material wealth if we live in
America. From having access to automobiles, technology, electricity, running water, fast food and
grocery stores to our possession of televisions, computers, comfortable beds and Lazyboy recliners, we
live a life of privilege in America. Though we might live on a small budget, we still enjoyand are
numbed bygreat wealth.
5
You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.

You strum away on your musical instruments, singing and worshiping in church. You have a form a form
of godliness but deny its power. (2 Timothy 3:5)

As David invented many instruments for Gods glory, we daily invent instruments to serve our affections
and lusts.
6
You drink wine by the bowlful

You lust after the intoxications of the world. You are not content to sip it in small quantities by the glass
but must inhale it from the basin (the container in which the wine was mixed).
6
and use the finest lotions,

You are consumed with desire for the finest of thingsfor wanton luxury, not necessity. As with the
lotion, for personal pleasure not health or cleanliness. You are consumed with youth and beauty,
affluence and happiness.

Woe to those who live only for today,

indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling goodlife without pain!
those obsessed with looking goodlife without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
Amos 6:4-6
The Message
6
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

You are not in anguish, sick at heart the Amplified Bible says, over the spiritual ruin in your own life,
the life of the Church and the nation.
7
Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.

As He did with Judah, God extends a call of mercy:

Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell
you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 3:22; 33:3).

Judah did not return, and they suffered the consequences. May we return to God on His terms terms
of confessing and repenting of our iniquity.

We believers in America have committed the same two sins as the people of Judah:

My people have committed two sins; They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug
their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13).

Notice God said, My people. Not the heathen, the lost, those without any knowledge of me or rebirth
but My people. Beloved, this is you and me. We must return, so that God can heal our faithlessness.

Personally, God is calling me to a continual heart of repentancefor myself, for ministry leaders, for
pastors, for the Church and the nation. I believe He is calling those of us who sense His heart to repent
on behalf of others and ask for a Spirit of repentance to be poured out upon our nation (Zechariah
12:10).

This past week God led me to Ezra 9 and 10 and asked me to believe Him for a similar result from our
Concert of Prayer.

Ezra and Israels Intermarriage

God provided miraculously in order to send a second group of exiles to Israel. He protected them
through months of travel and dangerous circumstances. The exiles who returned offered burnt offerings
to the LORD. Yet amid these wonderful happenings, Ezra learns terrible news. The men of Israel have
married foreign wives, in violation of the law given to Moses. Ezra is distressed at the news because he
knows the loving reason behind the rule and knows the consequences of disobedience. Marriage to
foreign wives was prohibited because of the danger that the women would influence their husbands and
children to worship their strange gods and idols. History had proven the wisdom of this rule. Disastrous
results came when the rule was violated.

When Ezra learned of the intermarriage of the exiles, he tore his tunic and cloak, pulled hair from his
head and beard and sat down appalled. Everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel
gathered around him because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. Ezra sat there appalled until the
evening sacrifice. (Ezra 9:3-5)

At the evening sacrifice, Ezra rose from his self-abasement, with his tunic and cloak torn, and fell on his
knees with his hands spread out to the LORD his God and prayed a prayer of repentance.
6O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to life up my face to you, my God, because our sins are
higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens
10
now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands 11you gave
through your servants the prophets when you said: the land you are entering to possess is a land
polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their
impurity from one end to the other. 12Therefore, do not give your daughter in marriage to their sons or
take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you
may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting
inheritance

14Shall we again break your commands and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable
practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or
survivor? 15O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are
before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.

Scripture says that while Ezra (just one man who was given Gods anguish over the nations sin)

was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large
crowd of Israelitesmen, women and childrengathered around him. They too wept bitterly. 2Then
Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, We have been unfaithful to our
God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for
Israel. 3Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children
(Ezra 10:1-3, emphasis added).

I believe God is giving a group of believers in America a view of our individual and corporate sin. As we
grieve, intercede, confess and repent, through us the Holy Spirit will give others a true heart of
repentancesorrow followed by action, by a literal turning from the sin.

Ezra was just one manjust one. But as he was grieving and repenting a large crowd of men, women
and children joined him. They too wept bitterly. They felt Gods sorrow, and saw their sin. But it didnt
stop therethey purified themselves of their marriage to the world! They separated themselves from
the world!! It didnt end with just meaningless words and rhetoric. There was action! Change! Not born
of men, but of God!

Take heart! You may feel like we are just a small group of believers praying in Concert, but we are more
than just one, and look what God did through just one man Ezra. Do not grow weary in well-doing.

Even though God was moving, Ezra remained in anguish and repentance until the matter was settled.
After he rose up and put the men under oath to do what had been suggested, he withdrew from before
the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan.. While he was there, he ate no food and drank
no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles (Ezra 10:5-6).

I will be honest. It is taking time for the weight of my sinmy marriage to the worldand the weight of
the Churchs sinthe Churchs marriage to the worldto set in. Therefore, my grief, my anguish, my
repentance continues and grows. I do not believe that we can hear this message of David Wilkersons
and be instantly stirred, moved to an instantaneous complete repentance, and instantly freed of the
burden. This is a true calling in every sense of the word. It is something that, if it is truly of God, will
abide.

Prayer Bullets:

As we meet before the Throne of Grace to pray in concert today at 6:30, may we:

Repent:

Repent and ask Gods forgiveness for our personal and corporate:

complacency and ease

marriage to the world

love of self and worship of the god of prosperity

drunkenness with the intoxications of the world

lust for entertainment, and in so doing, our worship of demons

of perversion, sensuality, pornography, obscenity, lewdness, vanity and compromise

worship of foreign gods of entertainment, pleasure, materialism, revelry, personal gain

pride

Repent on behalf of churches, pastors and ministry leaders:

Pride

Selfish ambition

Inventions and strategies of man

Leading, preaching and praying in the strength of the flesh, not the unction of the Holy Spirit

Putting on an appealing, polished, professional show (on Sunday mornings, in conferences,

radio and television programs), with a form of godliness, but void of the true power of the Holy
Spirit

Ask:

Ask to personally feel more of Gods heart. Ask to be roused from our complacency and bed of
careless ease.
 Ask God to pour out the Holy Spirit (Zech 12:10) upon the Church, giving them a spirit of
repentancerousing them from their complacency and bed of ease.

Ask God to show the Church the ways in which we are married to the worldto break us with
the vision of it, and enable us to put away such wives and the idolatries we have adopted.

Ask God to lay down the plumbline of His Word in our individual and corporate lives. May the
Holy Spirit lay hold of our pastors hearts and pulpits. Instead of preaching feel good messages
what itching ears want to hearmay they preach what Gods Word declares about our grievous,
sinful state. It is not coincidence that Ezra brought back the teaching of the law, the Word of
God, and repentance was the result. Ezra also set up courts of justice to enforce the law. We as
believers no longer view God as the judge, the One who enforces His righteous precepts and
holy standards. Such preaching and fear of God has vacated the land. Oh God, may we see you
as the righteous judge!

Thank God:

Thank God for His mercyHis kindness that leads to repentance.

What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have
punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this. (Ezra 9:13).

Thank God in advance for hearing us and gathering around us a large crowd of believersmen,
women and children, who will also weep bitterly and call for change.

https://www.shadesofgrace.org/2009/10/29/call-to-anguish/