The American day of Thanksgiving is one week away. This is a favorite time of year for me. Since I was a child I loved this season, the time to stop and take a measure of what life has given in this fair land and then gather with family and friends to enjoy the bounty of physical life.

I think this is the quintessential holiday for Americans. Its long history is steeped in presidential proclamations beginning with George Washington in 1789 when he wrote, "Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…"

Reading President Washington's words on this occasion reminds you of the struggle the new nation had endured to reach the point where a new government stood ready to direct the growth of the republic. The proclamation directed people to stop and reflect on a Higher Power as the source of their liberty and union.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln listed the blessings of the nation in the midst of a bitter Civil War. He said, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." To this day it is God's mercies that allow us to enjoy peace and prosperity in our land. It has been a long and successful run.

Once, in a grade school Thanksgiving play, I was called upon to read a passage of thanksgiving from the Bible. Psalm 95 was selected and I remember reading it with mixed understanding. I offer it to you as a Scripture reading for your Thanksgiving celebration. Read it slowly and look at each phrase. It draws us to worship God in humility and joy while using music and words.

With a soft and pliable heart we are told to bow and kneel before God in acknowledgment of His guidance in our lives. We are "the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."

Here is Psalm 95. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. See you in two weeks.

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Psalm 95 (New King James Version)

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.'
11 So I swore in My wrath,
'They shall not enter My rest.'"

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