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November 22

COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME
Henry Alford, 1810–1871
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most high. (Psalm 92:1 KJV)
Our early American leaders wisely realized the importance of having a special day each year in which people could recount their blessings and express gratitude to God for all of His goodness.
The first thanksgiving was decreed by Governor Bradford in 1621 to commemorate the Pilgrims’ harvest. Later George Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving, but the holiday was not repeated on a national basis until Abraham Lincoln named it a national Harvest Festival on November 26, 1861. After that time, the holiday was proclaimed annually by the President and the governors of each state. Finally in 1941, Congress passed a bill naming the fourth Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving Day.
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 Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43. 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.

    For Today: 1 Chronicles 16:8, 9; Psalm 68:19; Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43; Hebrews 13:15

The worship most acceptable to God comes from a thankful heart. Carry this musical truth with you—

November 21

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Thomas O. Chisholm, 1866–1960
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your Faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22, 23)
One of the important lessons the Children of Israel had to learn during their wilderness journey was that God’s provision of manna for them was on a morning by morning basis. They could not survive on old manna nor could it be stored for future use (Exodus 16:19–21).
While many enduring hymns are born out of a particular dramatic experience, this was simply the result of the author’s “morning by morning” realization of God’s personal faithfulness in his daily life. Shortly before his death in 1960, Thomas Chisholm wrote:
My income has never been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. But I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.
Thomas Obediah Chisholm was born in a crude log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky. From this humble beginning and without the benefit of high school or advanced education, he somehow began his career as a school teacher at the age of 16 in the same country school where he had received his elementary training. After accepting Christ as Savior, he became editor of The Pentecostal Herald and later was ordained as a Methodist minister. Throughout his long lifetime, Mr. Chisholm wrote more than 1,200 sacred poems, many of which have since become prominent hymn texts.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not: As thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow—blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.
Chorus: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided—Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

    For Today: Psalm 9:10; 36:5–7; 102:11, 12; James 1:17

Live with this spirit of grateful praise—

November 20

MY REDEEMER
Philip P. Bliss, 1838–1876
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:7, 8)
The text for “My Redeemer,” though a joyful note of praise, was found in the wreckage of a train accident which had just claimed the life of its author, Philip P. Bliss.
Philip Bliss was influential in promoting the growth of early gospel hymnody in this country. In addition to being known as a man with a commanding stature and impressive personality for leading congregational singing, Philip Bliss was highly regarded by his fellow colleagues. George Stebbins, also a noted gospel song writer of this time, once paid Bliss this tribute: “There has been no writer of verse since his time who has shown such a grasp of the fundamental truths of the gospel, or such a gift for putting them into poetic and singable form.”
Yet, at the age of 38, at the very height of his fruitful music ministry, Bliss’ life was suddenly ended in a tragic train accident. He had visited his mother at his childhood home in Rome, Pennsylvania, during the Christmas season of 1876 and was returning by train to Chicago on December 29 with his wife Lucy when a railroad bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio, collapsed. Their train plunged into a ravine 60 feet below and caught fire. One hundred passengers perished miserably. Bliss survived the fall and escaped through a window but frantically returned to the wreckage in an attempt to rescue his wife. As a result, he perished with her in the fire. Neither body was ever recovered.
Quite miraculously, however, among Bliss’ belongings in the train wreckage was found a manuscript on which Bliss had been working. It contained these significant words:
I will sing of my Redeemer and His wondrous love to me; on the cruel cross He suffered, from the curse to set me free.
I will tell the wondrous story, how, my lost estate to save, in His boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave.
I will praise my dear Redeemer, His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell, how the victory He giveth over sin and death and hell.
I will sing of my Redeemer and His heav’nly love to me; He from death to life hath bro’t me, Son of God with Him to be.
Chorus: Sing, O sing of my Redeemer; with His blood He purchased me; on the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free.

    For Today: Isaiah 53:4–12; 2 Corinthians 2:14, 15; Galatians 2:20

Make this musical truth your desire as you go—

November 19

HIS LOVING KINDNESS
Samuel Medley, 1738–1799
How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. (Psalm 36:7)
A Christian should never lose his reason for singing about the Lord and His constant loving kindness. “His praise should continually be in our mouths” (Psalm 34:1). Loving kindness has been described as “love in action.” God’s loving kindness was the act of sending Christ to be our Redeemer “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).
Samuel Medley, a Baptist minister, lived a dissipated life in the British Navy until he was severely wounded in a sea fight between the French and English in 1759, off Cape Lagos, Portugal. While convalescing, he read a sermon by Isaac Watts on Isaiah 42:6, 7. These verses ultimately led to Medley’s conversion and later to his becoming a minister of the gospel. “His Loving Kindness” was written as a personal testimony of thanksgiving to God. The text first appeared in published form in 1782. For 27 years Samuel Medley pastored the Baptist church in Liverpool with much success, especially as a preacher to the sailors. Medley wrote a large number of hymns but always stated in the preface of his books that his only purpose for writing was to “comfort Christians and to glorify Christ.” It has been said that the underlying purpose of Samuel Medley’s ministry, both in preaching and in hymn writing, was to “humble the pride of man, exalt the grace of God in his own salvation, and promote real holiness in the hearts and lives of believers.”
The sprightly music for this text is an American camp meeting melody in popular use throughout the South before its publication in the 19th century.
God’s loving kindness … “how free,” “how great,” “how good,”—a comfort in death and a source of eternal joy.
Awake, my soul, to joyful lays, and sing thy great Redeemer’s praise; He justly claims a song from thee, His loving kindness, oh, how free!
He saw me ruined by the fall, yet loved me not withstanding all; He saved me from my lost estate, His loving kindness, oh, how great!
When trouble, like a gloomy cloud, has gathered thick and thundered loud, He near my soul has always stood, His loving kindness, oh, how good!
Soon shall we mount and soar away to the bright realms of endless day, and sing, with rapture and surprise, His loving kindness, in the skies.
Refrain: Loving kindness, loving kindness, His loving kindness, oh how free!

    For Today: 2 Samuel 22:3, 4; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 31:21; 36:5–10; 59:10; Isaiah 54:8, 10; Ephesians 2:4–7

Recount your salvation experience; reflect on God’s leading; anticipate the eternal joys of heaven—then sing as you go—

November 18

WE PLOW THE FIELDS, AND SCATTER
Matthias Claudius, 1740–1815
Translated by Jane M. Campbell, 1817–1878
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. (Acts 14:17)
The Scriptures have many important lessons to teach us about harvests. One of these lessons is that there is always a waiting time between the planting of the seed and the gathering of the fruit or grain. This is true in spiritual matters as well. God often has to give us a waiting period for the full bloom of the Spirit’s fruit to be produced in our lives. The lesson of patience must be learned when sharing God’s love with others.
We can also learn from the harvest that a planted seed must first die before it can spring forth in new life. The way to personal spiritual fruitfulness is first death to self-centeredness (Matthew 10:30). Another truth is that a bountiful harvest is directly proportionate to the amount of sowing that has been done. “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6). And finally, harvesting is a cooperative affair. We may spread the seeds of the gospel and cultivate and water the spiritual soil in an individual’s life, but ultimately it is God who gives the harvest (1 Corinthians 3:6, 9).
“We Plow the Fields, and Scatter” first appeared in Germany in 1782 and was known as “The Peasants’ Song.” It was part of a dramatic sketch portraying a harvest festival in a farm home in northern Germany. It first appeared in England in 1861.
We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand; He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain, the breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.
We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good, the seed-time and the harvest, our life, our health, our food; no gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts, but that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.
Chorus: All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above; then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all His love.

    For Today: Genesis 1:11–18; 2:4, 5; Psalm 57:9–11; Isaiah 55:10, 11; Hebrews 11:3; James 1:17

“But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.” Is there a spiritual harvest in my life? Am I contributing to a harvest time in the lives of others? Reflect on this musical truth as you go—