In our Thanksgiving services over the years, one of the hymns we always sang was “We Gather Together to ask the Lord’s Blessing.” In fact, to this day for some of us, singing it brings back pleasant memories of the church in which we grew up, and the yearly Thanksgiving Eve (or Thanksgiving Day) service. On that occasion, we sang this hymn (and others with a similar theme) before the Pastor’s brief devotional message. And then what followed was “open mike” time, as one after another stood where they were in the pews and described ways in which they were so thankful for what the Lord had done for them during the past year.
Thankfulness is a prominent theme in all of Scripture, especially in Psalms like 103, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me … and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” How often do we need to be reminded of that when we look around at our present problems and challenges, forgetting how the Lord has proven Himself over and over again to be a good and faithful God?
This hymn is probably found in almost every hymnal, if not in the section of hymns for Thanksgiving, then perhaps in the section on Providence. In these other topics, we sing of God’s mercy and grace to us, His kindness in ways that we do not deserve, not treating us as our sins deserve, but according to His sovereign love for us, His adopted children. The theme is one that ought to be prominent in our prayers, remembering to thank the Lord for what He has promised and what He has already done, before we begin to list all the things that we yet desire from Him and for which we will always be dependent on Him.