Thanksgiving

Let us mark, lastly, in these verses, what a rare thing is thankfulness. We are told that of all the ten lepers whom Christ healed, there was only one who turned back and gave Him thanks. The words that fell from our Lord’s lips upon this occasion are very solemn: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” The lesson before us is humbling, heart-searching, and deeply instructive. The best of us are far too like the nine lepers. We are more ready to pray than to praise, and more disposed to ask God for what we have not, than to thank Him for what we have. Murmurings, and complainings, and discontent abound on every side of us. Few indeed are to be found who are not continually hiding their mercies under a bushel, and setting their wants and trials on a hill. These things ought not so to be. But all who know the church and the world must confess that they are true. The wide-spread thanklessness of Christians is the disgrace of our day. It is a plain proof of our little humility. Let us pray for a daily thankful spirit. It is the spirit which God loves and delights to honor. David and St. Paul were eminently thankful men.—It is the spirit which has marked all the brightest saints in every age of the church. M’Cheyne, and Bickersteth, and Haldane Stewart, were always full of praise.—It is the spirit which is the very atmosphere of heaven. Angels and “just men made perfect” are always blessing God.—It is the spirit which is the source of happiness on earth. If we would be careful for nothing, we must make our requests known to God not only with prayer and supplication, but with thanksgiving.

Above all, let us pray for a deeper sense of our own sinfulness, guilt, and undeserving. This, after all, is the true secret of a thankful spirit. It is the man who daily feels his debt to grace, and daily remembers that in reality he deserves nothing but hell,—this is the man who will be daily blessing and praising God. Thankfulness is a flower which will never bloom well excepting upon a root of deep humility.

Verse 1

AWAKE, my soul, awake my tongue,
My God demands the grateful song;
Let all my inmost powers record
The wondrous mercy of the Lord.

Verse 2

Divinely free his mercy flows,
Forgives my sins, allays my woes,
And bids approaching death remove,
And crowns me with indulgent love.

Verse 3

His mercy, with unchanging rays,
Forever shines, while time decays;
And children’s children shall record
The truth and goodness of the Lord.

Verse 4

While all his works his praise proclaim,
And men and angels bless his name,
Oh, let my heart, my life, my tongue
Attend, and join the blissful song!

Verse 1

Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest-home:
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest-home.

Verse 2

All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown:
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

Verse 3

For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offences purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

Verse 4

Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin;
There for ever purified,
In Thy presence to abide:
Come, with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.

Verse 1

Dread Jehovah, God of nations,
From Thy temple in the skies
Hear Thy people’s supplications;
Now for their deliverance rise.

Verse 2

Lo! with deep contrition turning,
Humbly at Thy feet we bend;
Hear us, fasting, praying, mourning;
Hear us, spare us, and defend.

Verse 3

Though our sins, our hearts confounding,
Long and loud for vengeance call,
Thou hast mercy more abounding,
Jesus’ blood can cleanse them all.

Verse 4

Let that love veil our transgression;
Let that blood our guilt efface;
Save Thy people from oppression,
Save from spoil Thy holy place.

Verse 1

From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator’s praise arise;
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.

Verse 2

Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends thy word;
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.

Verse 3

Your lofty themes, ye mortals, bring,
In songs of praise divinely sing:
The great salvation loud proclaim,
And shout for joy the Savior’s name.

Verse 4

In every land begin the song;
To every land the strains belong;
In cheerful sounds all voices raise,
And till the world with loudest praise.

Verse 1

God bless our native land;
Firm may she ever stand
Through storm and night:
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave,
Do Thou our country save
By Thy great might.

Verse 2

For her our prayers shall rise
To God, above the skies:
On Him we wait;
Thou who art ever nigh,
Guarding with watchful eye,
To Thee aloud we cry,
God save the State.

Verse 1

God of mercy, God of grace,
Show the brightness of Thy face;
Shine upon us, Saviour, shine,
Fill Thy Church with light Divine;
And Thy saving health extend
Unto earth’s remotest end.

Verse 2

Let the people praise Thee, Lord;
Be by all that live adored;
Let the nations shout and sing,
Glory to their Saviour King;
At Thy feet their tributes pay,
And Thy holy will obey.

Verse 3

Let the people praise Thee, Lord;
Earth shall then her fruits afford;
God to man His blessing give,
Man to God devoted live;
All below, and all above,
One in joy, and light, and love.

Verse 1

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Verse 2

Thy love Divine hath led us in the past;
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide, and Stay;
Thy word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

Verse 3

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defence;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Verse 4

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never-ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace Divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.

Verse 1

God the All-terrible! King, who ordainest
Great winds Thy clarions, the lightnings Thy sword,
Show forth Thy pity on high where Thou reignest;
Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

Verse 2

God the Omnipotent! Mighty Avenger,
Watching invisible, judging unheard,
Save us in mercy, O save us from danger;
Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

Verse 3

God the All-merciful! Earth hath forsaken
Thy ways of blessedness, slighted Thy word;
Bid not Thy wrath in its terrors awaken;
Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

Verse 4

So shall Thy children, in thankful devotion,
Laud Him who saved them from peril abhorred;
Singing in chorus, from ocean to ocean,
Peace to the nations, and praise to the Lord.

We bless Thee that Thou hast gathered us together this morning, and that so many mercies have crowned our path since last we met together. Another week of blessing from Thy hand has gone over our heads. We are another week nearer the time of rest. We beseech Thee that we may be conscious of some growth in Thy grace and knowledge, and that we may be aware of some weakening in us of anything that is contrary to Thy will, and may gather together here better prepared and more desirous to receive Thy great gifts of grace and goodness.

Comfort all sad hearts, O Lord, we pray Thee. Be near us according to our different difficulties and conflicts. Guide us by Thy counsel, and make us willing to accept Thy guidance. Hear our prayers, make us more prayerful, receive our thanksgiving and deepen our gratitude, answer our petitions, and make us more earnest in asking. We pray Thee to hear us, and to grant us Thy blessing, and help now, for our Lord Christ’s sake.

We bless Thee for all Thy great mercies to us. We draw near to Thee now, laden with benefits. Thou crownest our days with Thy goodness; and we believe, though it is sometimes hard to feel it and be sure of it, that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep His covenant. Help us to keep it. Teach us to accept Thy commandments, to believe Thy promises, to live in the light of Thy Presence, and whether present or absent to labour that we may be well-pleasing to Thee; and then do Thou help us that we may ever be compassed about with Thy favour as with a shield, and may feel that in union with Thee all our need is greatened and purified and glorified.

We thank Thee, Lord, for all Thy blessings to us. We praise Thee for daily care and nightly mercies. We beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us to offer up to Thee not only the words of thanksgiving but the sacrifice of loving, trustful, and obedient hearts, and that our characters may become more like what Thou wouldst have us to be. We have to pray for the forgiveness of many imperfections and sins. We could not lose the consciousness of our own shortcomings. We pray Thee to deliver us from all illusions as to our own strength and our own righteousness. We pray Thee for quickened consciences, enlightened by Thee; and we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst preserve us from ever losing sight of our own deep necessities, or from ever seeing them so mountainous and great as that they obscure Thy greater mercy and Thy more than sufficient supplies. May we ever hold in one grasp our own need and Thy infinite riches, our own sinfulness and Thy free blessing, our own deficiencies and Thy wealth.

When we come to Thee, O Lord, we are overwhelmed with the number of Thy mercies. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee; they can only be reckoned up in order by Thee. And yet we pray that we may have a clear perception of, and a more adequate thankfulness for, and a more entire dependence upon, Thy loving heart and Thine innumerable mercies. Draw us, we beseech Thee, to Thyself by thoughts of Thee; and when there rise up in our consciences the sins that are more than the hairs of our heads, and we feel as if we durst not look up, may the thought of Thy greater mercies, more numerous still than these, strengthen and encourage us. What should we do if the measure of Thy forgiveness did not overlap and exist far beyond the measure of any man’s or of all men’s sin? We thank Thee that we can cast ourselves on Thee, and flee to Thee from ourselves; and we beseech Thee that Thy good Spirit, which Thou dost give to them that ask Thee, may indeed dwell in our hearts, and mould us by the power of thankfulness for Thy service. May it be true of us, too, that we delight to do Thy will, and that Thy law is within our hearts. We come to Thee empty-handed, sacrifice and offering Thou dost not require; Thou hast provided it. We come to Thee to receive, not to give; we come as those for whom the great offering has already been presented which makes all ours needless, except as thank-offerings. And we pray Thee to help us to render ourselves to Thee in entire surrender and devotion, as the token of our grateful acceptance of Thy greatest gift.

We pray Thee to help us in our worship, to guide our thoughts when we meditate upon Thy truth, to keep us from wandering away in mind and imagination and fancy into the ordinary affairs of life with all its trivialities and its trials. Help us as we draw near to Thee in worship, and as we open our minds and hearts to the teaching of Thy truth. Grant that our meeting may be full of blessing and of lasting good for every one of us. We would come to Thee with humble thanksgiving for all Thy great mercies to us, and for Him Who is the sun of them all, and in Whom all the sweets of Thy giving lie compacted, even Jesus Christ our Saviour.