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Show jvy" Again God's bounteous hand has spread "''jl (fit The tables of the poor with bread ' W S)L Again our grateful fervent songs y 0(T Ascend to Whom all praise belongs; V lffj, Accept, O God, our thankful lay If VH lf$y T Th2e " tMS Thankssi"oi"s Day Tin 1)1 Tlie husbandman has sown the seed, icif"? J And Thou didst bless his work indeed; sd? jj He trusted in Thy sacred Word, M', And harvest great was his reward; M J So on Thy promises we stay M On this our blest Thanksgiving Day. iifK RJm The cattle on a thousand hills, II p S J 11 The wild bird with his thrilling trills, (l vfv t II Fish of the sea the lion, bear, VI 11 3 All yield to Thy protecting care; J May all creation own Thy sway, C 5g. Thou God of this Thanksgiving Day. (Tv '(Ji)J We thank Thee for the sun's bright light, T? (NTf Y' The silvery moon, the stars of night, XlirfC For water pure for fragrant air, Vi ffj And for Thy tender watchful care "Sldl Ajvr-fTw For blessings all that with us stay L If h jj On this our blest Thanksgiving Day. K, Jf o( We thank Thee for the Gospel truth, ( YYv For blest old age tor hopeful youth. Infill))'') (( VTyiL E' en troubles great for grief and care, 'ivf H tiv Knowing they will our souls prepare, lUV Vi wfj Straighten the path and clear the way fk Fr God's own blest Thanksgiving Day, fcJLY Great God, accept our thankful songs, jx "7 While hymns of praise swell on our ffVi 9r Guide Thou our feet o'er life's rough w (jP) J Teach us in mercy, not in wrath; UyCX Grant we may ever with Thee stay H lA. And join in heaven 's Thanksgiving Day. JvJ iXyjJ John T. Wye. , the birds look up -when they drink, as if in mute recognition of the heavenly heav-enly source of the bits of blessing which fall to them, and certainly man, much more richly endowed and i blessed, should do at least as much, and express his "Thank you!" both by the testimony of the lips and the generous actions of the life. Thanksgiving day is a proper and convenient occasion for considering both the duty and the grace of gratitude grati-tude to the great Giver of all good. But Thanksgiving day is not simply for the abstract discussion of general ideas present in thought or stirring the emotions. This day does or should have a direct governing relation re-lation to the ministries of the hand and the unfolding of the wallet. . . . When it is celebrated in the spirit cS the scriptural exhortation to thankfulness, thank-fulness, it becomes a time of rejoicing rejoic-ing in the truest, fullest sense, because be-cause it joins praise to God with practical prac-tical ministry to the poor and unfortunate. unfor-tunate. Thanksgiving should issue in thanksgiving. Praise should become be-come a practice. Gratitude must become be-come a temper and tendency of the life. So will God be glorified and gratified, and men, by their cordial and constant recognition of his goodness, good-ness, be lifted in the scale of being and be the better fitted to receive from heaven more favors still. Rev. C. A. S. Dwight. -i 1 Cljanfegtbtng A DUTY AND A GRACE R 6T)"roiiTroTro-oTroTrBTroircnj s ii ii 8 .. H "And let the peace of God rale in your hearts, ?i ii to the which also ye are called in one bodyt ti and be ye thankful." Ctl. 3s IS. $i ""cC"tf5Sl E ye thankful!" Plwr rwV early Christians, E ESs? wno even in B XuzM V"&Mi' stormy times of jkW:3v&f, possible or actual persecution were exhorted to be of good cheer and io "count up their mercies." - Paul's words are not only hortatory, but also mandatory. It is the duty or the Christian, amid all vicissitudes, to be thankful. A believer is never justified in forgetting God's benefits to him. He is expected to figure out every now and then the sum of the divine favors that have been shown to him, or what might be called the statistics of salvation. It is true that divine mercies have been innumerable, innumer-able, and cannot be tabulated with anything like completeness; yet the Christian believer is exhorted to dwell upon these mercies in thought and to render vivid to his mind, by frequent reflection, so many of the visitations of divine favor as he can discern providentially unfolded in his past life. There is, then, a duty of thanksgiving. thanks-giving. Praise is the expected thing, gratitude is demanded. God is disappointed, dis-appointed, and even angered, when men receive his gifts without returning return-ing thanks. The Lord is gracious, but that is no reason why the children chil-dren of men should be ungraciously thankless. Thanksgiving is a part of the code of duty of a Christian, it is an integral portion of the decalogue deca-logue of moral action. It is not a kind of extra service, or superfluous activity added on to the body of duty otherwise complete, but is of the warp and woof of the Christian's obligation. ob-ligation. "Be thankful" was not the idle, chance remark of a sentimental apostle, but is the New Testament interpretation in-terpretation of the Old Testament burden of blessing. But if thankfulness is a duty, it is none the less on that account a grace. If it is not optional, it may certainly be ornamental. The fact that a thing or a trait is demanded by the moral law does not render the sacrifice sacri-fice of that thing or the exhibition of that trait any the less noble or lovely. The grace of gratitude in particular is a peculiarly lovely virtue. vir-tue. There is even, we may saj', an aesthetic quality to thankfulness. "Praise is comely for the upright," said the Psalmist, who was an authority au-thority on the beauty of holiness. Even the world appreciates the aesthetic aes-thetic value of gratitude as well as its earning power, acquisitive of future fu-ture favors, as a .practical asset of life and poets in all ages have sung of the charm of a grateful spirit, the nobility of a responsive nature. Even |
