Ps 107:1-8 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.
Col
3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed
you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ
richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms {and} hymns {and} spiritual songs, singing with
thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed,
{do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God
the Father.
1621 Thanksgiving quote:
Edward Winslow, who
later became the third governor of Plymouth Colony, wrote one of the two
surviving eyewitness accounts of the Harvest Festival of 1621, "And
God
be praised, we have a good increase . . . . Our harvest being gotten
in, our governor sent four men on fowling (ie, bird hunting) that so we
might after a special manner rejoice together."
A Few Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations (there are many more than these):
George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation:
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; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by
their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the
United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by
acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of
Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now,
therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November
next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of
that great and glorious
Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto
Him our sincere and humble thanks for
His kind
care and protection of the people of this country previous to their
becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable
interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the
late war...
James Madison's 1815 Thanksgiving Proclamation:
The
senate and House of Representatives of the United States have by a
joint resolution signified their desire that a day may be recommended to
be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnity
as a day of thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to
Almighty God
for His great goodness manifested in restoring to them the blessing of
peace. No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the
goodness of the
Great Disposer of Events of the Destiny of
Nations than the people of the United States. His kind providence
originally conducted them to one of the best portions of the dwelling
place allotted for the great family of the human race.
He protected and cherished them under all the difficulties and trials to which they were exposed in their early days. Under
His fostering care their habits, their sentiments, and their pursuits prepared them for a transition in due time to a state of
independence
and self-government. In the arduous struggle by which it was attained
they were distinguished by multiplied tokens of
His benign interposition. . .
Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation:
The
year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties,
which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source
from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful
providence of
Almighty God.
I do therefore
invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also
those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to
set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of
Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent
Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
My 2012 Thanksgiving sermon:
A Life of Thanksgiving
