Amazing Grace
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—
Osbeck, K. W.
- Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 1 Chronicles 16:8-9
- Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19
- Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both from together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:24-30
- Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:36-43
- By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15
WP4Y: In Matthew Jesus is very clear the righteous will not be removed but the evil. At the appearance of Yeshua in the eastern sky, the holy angels will gather together the wicked and toss them into the lake of fire. The unbiblical pre-tribulation rapture is herein proven to be a doctrine of devils and not the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
I had been indoctrinated in this false idea which infected the church in 1830s through the Plymouth Brethren and Charles Schofield. The latter, through notations on scripture, promulgated this idea which poisoned the churches in America. YHVH shields his children through tribulation:
- Noah’s flood
- Hebrews in Goshen the Passover
- Daniel in fiery furnace and lions den
Additionally, Isaiah 26:20 tells us, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”
In the last days, as prophecy is being fulfilled we are to be searching the skies and trusting in the return of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Be not afraid for God is with us and in us.
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