{"id":176,"date":"2006-11-23T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-23T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=176"},"modified":"2013-06-28T14:44:24","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T18:44:24","slug":"a-hymn-for-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"A Hymn for Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we begin our Thanksgiving, let me share this hymn. It is good for us to give thanks to God for all things, but we must take care that we not sound as if we are really worshipping the idol Materialism. In other words, while we thank God for things, we have much to thank God for if we lose all we can see or touch. This Watts hymn moves me and reminds me to cry out in deep thanksgiving to God for saving my soul. Verses three and four especially drive this point home. As I gather with my family and friends today, I want to thank God for salvation and then, as in this hymn, let my thanksgiving overflow in prayer for the salvation of the nations.<\/p>\n

How Sweet and Awesome is this Place
\nBy Isaac Watts (you can hear the tune here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

How sweet and awesome is this place
\nWith Christ within the doors,
\nWhile everlasting love displays
\nThe choicest of her stores!<\/p>\n

Here every bowel of our God
\nWith soft compassion rolls;
\nHere peace and pardon bought with blood
\nIs food for dying souls.<\/p>\n

While all our hearts and all our songs
\nJoin to admire the feast,
\nEach of us cry, with thankful tongues,
\n“Lord, why was I a guest?<\/p>\n

“Why was I made to hear
\nThy voice, And enter while there’s room,
\nWhen thousands make a wretched choice,
\nAnd rather starve than come?”<\/p>\n

“Twas the same love that spread the feast
\nThat sweetly drew us in;
\nElse we had still refused to taste,
\nAnd perished in our sin.<\/p>\n

Pity the nations, O our God!
\nConstrain the earth to come;
\nSend Thy victorious Word abroad,
\nAnd bring the strangers home.<\/p>\n

We long to see Thy churches full,
\nThat all the chosen race
\nMay with one voice, and heart and soul,
\nSing Thy redeeming grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we begin our Thanksgiving, let me share this hymn. It is good for us to give thanks to God for all things, but we must take care that we not sound as if we are really worshipping the idol Materialism. In other words, while we thank God for things, we have much to thank …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘A Hymn for Thanksgiving’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,16,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3641,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/3641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}