We Gather Together

As we journey through this week of Thanksgiving, we are going to look at some Thanksgiving Hymns.

I thought it’d be fitting to start the week with the Dutch hymn “We Gather Together”. Written in 1626 to celebrate the end of Spanish control of the Netherlands, it did not become associated with our National Day of Thanksgiving until 1894. Theodore Baker, an American music scholar, translated the poem into English and published it under the title “Prayer of Thanksgiving”. It first appeared in an American hymnal in 1903, paired with the tune ‘Kremser’ as we know it today. During World War I and ever more so during World War II, the hymn gained even more popularity as a prayer of a nation in times of war.   

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to his name; he forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side; all glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised!  O Lord, make us free!

Prayer

O God of Gatherings, we feel Your presence when we do indeed gather together. Be with us this week as we focus and reflect on what it is to be truly thankful. Stay beside us as we spend time with family and friends around tables; especially tables that may have an empty chair this year. We thank You for being our guide, leader, and defender; but most of all, for loving us. Amen.