Perhaps you know the Thanksgiving hymn, “We Gather Together.”
Look to the lyrics of the hymn of thanks and give thought to them:
1. We gather together
to ask the Lord's blessing;
he chastens and hastens
his will to make known.
The wicked oppressing
now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to his name,
he forgets not his own.
2. Beside us to guide us,
our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining
his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning
the fight we were winning;
thou, Lord, wast at our side,
all glory be thine!
3. We all do extol thee,
thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still
our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation
escape tribulation;
thy name be ever praised!
O Lord, make us free!
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source: We Gather Together lyric
We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. Yes, that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Yet dig deeper into the text of this formerly well-known Thanksgiving hymn (many churches no longer offer a service of Thanksgiving) and find more for which to be thankful.
To begin, here is an interesting looking a probable emergence of the hymn: The Surprising Origins of "We Gather Together"
“We gather together” is cherished as yearly opportunity for family gatherings; however further examination of the lyrics suggest an occasion of worship “to ask the Lord’s blessing.”
Do you gather together with other Christians (not just family) regularly to ask the Lord’s blessing? And if you do not bless God, would it not be appropriate for God to curse you? Therefore, let us always give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And if we receive blessings from the Lord day by day (and we do, if you will take note of these), should we not thank the Lord each and every day even as was ask the Lord’s blessing on the food and full provision for our lives?
“He chastens…”
Chaste: there’s a word you don’t see in the Christmas ads on T.V. or anywhere else.
Chasten:
- to be instructed or taught or learn, correct,
- of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition
- of God to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities
Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
What does it mean that the Lord rebukes and chastens his beloved (you an me, dear brothers and sisters in Christ)?
Perhaps you think that Thanksgiving is not a time for ‘rebuke’ from the Lord. Yet if we are unrepentant in our relationship to the Lord and in our relationships to each other, I can think of no better time for a loving Father to rebuke and correct His children, even adopted children through the Cross of our Lord, His only Son, Jesus Christ.
He chastens AND…
“… and hastens His will to make known.”
“Thy will be done,” is the prayer we all pray.
What is God’s will for you? Do you want to God’s will when you finally get around to it? Or if we listen to the lyric, it would seem that God would make haste in our measured days to make His will know to us.
“The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.”
A definition (as if we need a reminder): oppression – prolonged cruel or unjust treatment, mental pressure or distress
The world surrounds us with wicked oppressing; but thank be to God for redeeming us from oppression of our our sin. Is anything more oppressing than sin? Yet by grace we may cease from distressing over the punishment of the Father we truly deserve.
And what should be our response to the lifting of our oppression from us by the grace of the Cross?
“Sing praises to his name…”
Indeed, Thanksgiving is all about worship of God our Father and Christ Jesus.
Thank God; for:
“… he forgets not his own.”
Colossians 1
English Standard Version (ESV)
11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Verse 2.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining…
Encouraged? You know this from the Christmas message:
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
“… ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;”
Jesus began the Kingdom. Jesus maintains His Kingdom. Jesus will return for His subjects… His family. He will reign.
We thought that we were losing out on life, but by accepting Jesus as our King we cannot be defeated.
Hebrews 12: 1b-2 NKJV
… let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“so from the beginning the fight we were winning; thou lord wast at our side,”
Isn’t it comforting to know in our daily struggles that Jesus stands right there with us? It’s just one more reason to praise him.
“all glory be thine!”
Verse 3
“We all to extol thee, thou leader triumphant,”
‘Extol.’ It’s an old word that has fallen from our vocabulary. It means to praise enthusiastically. Furthermore, it is appropriate to make mention of another old English usage that has fallen by the wayside. The King James Version of the Bible remains popular with many because of its use of ‘thee and thou.’ It is a proper reverence for God and Christ, lost in familiarity of worshipers bordering on disrespect. Our attitude of worship (as a church and in our family and personal life) should at the very least show God the respect due a father. Often, it does not.
Jesus has triumphed over death… and He did it for us. IF Jesus is our Lord, He IS our leader triumphant.
“and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.”
We will be raised up with Him at the Judgment.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
“Let thy congregation escape tribulation;”
Do you know what tribulation is really? According to the Oxford Dictionary, its a cause of great trouble or suffering.
First century Christians suffered much tribulation from evil men opposed to Christ. Last century Christians will suffer a worse tribulation under the oppression of the Antichrist and the persecution by all those opposed to Jesus Christ as Lord. Yet we are victorious in Christ Jesus, who has overcome death, will defeat Satan, and rule a new heaven and a new earth. We will reign with Jesus our Lord!
For this we ought to have much thanks giving.
“thy name be ever praised!”
And one final plea of the hymn (only it is not for freedom from tyrants):
“O, Lord, make us free.”
Are you part of the family of God? Or do you remain a slave to your sin?
John 8: ““Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
You may gather with ‘family’ and give brief thanks for too much food; but Thanksgiving is much more than this.
Psalm 102:18-22
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
Children singing “We Gather Together”
Happy Thanksgiving.
Praise the Lord.
Jesus IS Lord.
