Mrs. Jeanette Whittaker
The true spirit of thanksgiving can be hard to capture as we attempt to juggle all the competing demands in our lives. So, while we carry on the necessary activities, keep this in mind: heartfelt gratitude is a perspective, not an event.
The spirit of thanksgiving acknowledges that all we do, all we have, even our very breath is made possible through God’s provision. King David expressed this in II Samuel 7:18, just after leading his people to return the ark to Jerusalem. It had been a grand and glorious celebration.
David had required the priests to prepare themselves beforehand, and instructed the Levite musicians to prepare music of worship and rejoicing to help lead the grand procession. When the day arrived, King David and the government leaders accompanied the ark to the Tabernacle where the priests offered the proper Biblical sacrifices.
As they celebrated, David led his people to acknowledge, honor, and thank God, with these beautiful words:
Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. . . .
I Chronicles 16:8-12
The people, united together in worship, responded by saying, “Amen!”
With the ark back in Jerusalem, David was ready to build a new temple. When he heard God’s answer: “no,” it was accompanied with a reminder of all that God had done, and a promise that God would continue working through David’s family for generations to come.
David’s response showed both humility and gratitude. “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: ‘Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” II Samuel 7:18
Thanksgiving acknowledges our dependence on God alone. It recognizes the faithfulfulness of God. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. Lamentations 3:22-24.
That spirit of placing all hope and trust in God is also found in the pages of history. Our American Thanksgiving tradition traces back to the Separatists in Plymouth. Recognizing the principles of Scripture, they followed the dictates of conscience concerning the practice of their faith.
Tested by persecution, they placed all faith and hope in God. Recounting their experiences, William Bradford used phrases such as, “their desires were set on the ways of God…they rested on his providence, and knew whom they had believed.”
After spending more than a decade in Holland, the Separatists prepared themselves for an even more difficult endeavor, emigrating to the wilderness of North America. Bradford acknowledged the enormity of this step of faith with these gripping words, “It was answered that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages…all of them [difficulties], through the help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne or overcome.”
Over and over again, Bradford echoed the sentiments of the saints of God through all of time. In God will I put my trust.
Facing disease and death, near starvation, as well as other hardships, the Pilgrims carried on in those early years. In 1623, a two-month drought threatened to wipe out the carefully planted crops. What would these steadfast Pilgrims do? In Bradford’s words, “they set apart a solemn day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer, in this great distress. And he was pleased to give them a gracious and speedy answer.”
On the very day of their fasting and prayer, they received rain, followed by “such seasonable showers…as, through his blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy…they also set apart a day of thanksgiving.”
Where would we be in America today if our Pilgrim forefathers had placed their faith in their own wisdom and strength?
Days of fasting and prayer continued throughout America over the subsequent years. During the War for Independence, Congress requested national days of fasting and prayer. At times they chose a specific date, at other times they allowed the states to decide.
After a difficult season in the War for Independence, in October of 1777 the American army achieved an encouraging victory at the Battle of Saratoga. Congress suggested a day of Thanksgiving to be held in December.
Washington’s army was en route to Valley Forge, but the General agreed with the importance of participating in the day of Thanksgiving. Consequently, he ordered the troops to remain in their encampment for December 18: “Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us devoutely to express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us—The General directs that the army remain in it’s present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several Corps and brigades—And earnestly exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensibly necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.” *
The army would need every shred of encouragement they could find in order to endure the difficult winter ahead. The challenges continued in the ensuing years. When the war finally came to a close, Washington called all to participate in a day of gratitude: “The commander in chief earnestly recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interposition of Providence demands of us.”
Where would we be if Americans had not continued to rely on God? Through the establishment of our nation, the struggles of the Civil War, or the challenges of the recent century?
In May of 2021, Dr. James Dobson shared this call for Americans to join together for the National Day of Prayer. “If ever there was a time that America needed prayer, it is now.” — Dr. James Dobson
Where will we be in America if our generation fails to recognize our dependence upon God, as individuals, families, or a nation?
The Thanksgiving season invites us to recognize and acknowledge our dependence on God, our gratitude for His sustaining provision, and our desire to acknowledge Him in all our ways. The apostle Paul said it this way, “ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father [f]of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:14-21
As you move through this Thanksgiving season, may the Lord Jesus Christ bring you and your family peace, grace, and hope. May you live with purpose, trusting God to work in great and mighty ways, above all that we might ask or think.
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