November 24, 2022 - Psalm 100

Thanksgiving! There are so many Thanksgiving psalms. Which to choose to read and reflect on, this morning? I’m not sure I can say it any better (Well, actually, I am quite certain I can do no better.) than the psalmist in Psalm 100.

A Psalm for giving thanks.

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

And, then, there are all the Thanksgiving hymns! I think of Thomas Ken’s “ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow” (“The Doxology,” we call it.). There’s William Kethe’s “All people that on earth do dwell.” There’s Henry Alford’s “Come, ye thankful people, come.” And I have to mention Johnson Oatman’s “Count your blessings” (You know: Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done . . .). But how about something from the 17th century?

Now thank we all our God

with heart and hands and voices,

who wondrous things has done,

in whom his world rejoices;

who from our mothers’ arms

has blessed us on our way

with countless gifts of love,

and still is ours today. --Martin Rinkart (1636)

Happy Thanksgiving, all!