Give Thanks!

In Psalm 92:1, we read:  "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most high."  I have a book entitled "Amazing Grace" that contains hymn stories by Kenneth Osbeck.  Let us look today at the Thanksgiving hymn, "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come", written by Henry Alford.

"The first stanza of this harvest hymn is an invitation and an exhortation to give thanks to God in His earthly temple -- our local church --  for the heavenly care and provision of our earthly need.  The following two stanzas are an interesting commentary on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares as recorded in the 13th chapter of Matthew.  The final stanza is a prayer for the Lord's return --'the final harvest home.'

     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.

          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.

     For the Lord our God shall come and shall take His harvest home:
From His field shall in that day all offenses 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.

     Even so, Lord, quickly come to Thy final harvest home:
Gather Thou Thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin;
     There, forever purified, in Thy presence to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels, come -- raise the glorious harvest-home."

 In this beautiful Thanksgiving season, let us take time to worship our God from a thankful heart!