Thanksgiving Memories Psalm 105; 106

“”Oh give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples” (Ps. 105:1, NASB).

All week I have been thinking about what I will write about in the article for this week. I’ve had a few ideas; including a continuation on the theme of faith. After settling on a title I sit down at my computer to write. Suddenly, I remember that this coming Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. How could I forget this? It’s not that I am not thankful to the Lord for the many blessings He has given to me from my early existence in the world and even to this present time. I remember to be thankful daily. The question is how I could have overlooked the fact that I should write an article about Thanksgiving Day. After all, my daughter, my wife, and I have gone over the menu for dinner. Yet, I do not remember that I should prepare to write an article for this special holiday. So, at this time I want to reflect on some memories of Thanksgiving Day. I hope that it will inspire others to do the same.

Psalm 105 and Psalm 106 capture my thoughts about Thanksgiving. Psalm 105 is a psalm that calls for the people to remember God’s wonderful works in behalf of Israel. The first five verses tell the people what they are to do because they are thankful. “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, the marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth” (Ps. 105: 2-5, NASB).

Does this sound like Thanksgiving Day in our home today, I ask? No, because Thanksgiving Day is generally not celebrated in this manner today. Today, Thanksgiving Day is a victim of a commercialized society. For the business community Thanksgiving Day is the day to start the Christmas shopping season. Many stores will open for Christmas sales to begin. People’s food from dinner has not digested before they are off to the stores to take advantage of the savings offered. I wonder if people even thank the Lord for the money they are saving from these special sales. In addition football games and basketball games are the main event in the lives of many people. With this in mind, I want to walk down memory lane of the Thanksgiving Day celebrations that I have experienced in my life. Then, I will return to Psalm 105 and Psalm 106.

When I was a little boy; not yet in school, I remember getting up early in the morning. My older brothers and sisters were home because the schools were closed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. I remember the family singing Thanksgiving songs. At that time we did not have a television. Instead, the radio would be turned on and there were several programs that emphasized the day to be a day of thanksgiving to the Lord. My oldest sister and her family would come to the house and we, the children, would play together outside. We lived on a farm so there was plenty space to play. There was a spirit in the air that made me aware that this is a special day. It is a day to enjoy the things that God has blessed us with. It is a day in which we anticipate good things to happen in the future because God has shown Himself to be a good God throughout the year. Of course dinner was special as we all gathered together to thank God for all of His blessings. Speaking of the spirit in the air, I don’t think that the same spirit is there in our homes, our places of religious worship, and the community in general. You may feel different.

After I started school, Thanksgiving Day took on added meaning to me. There were decorations in the classroom and on bulletin boards in the hallways centered on Thanksgiving. We begin to learn the story of the first thanksgiving. Although some of the history is now refuted, this does not change the way we felt about how good it was to be alive in the United States of America. During those days the day in the classroom begin with a devotional period. Usually we would sing a Thanksgiving song and repeat the Lord’s Prayer in unison. The school held a special gathering of the entire school in the auditorium for a special Thanksgiving Day program. School was dismissed on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We would return to class the following Monday.

When I was in the tenth grade my older sister, Winnie, brought a television to the house. I think that this is when Thanksgiving Day slowly began to change. My older brothers and sisters had left home and I was now the oldest child still in school. Television now means that I watched Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. After the parade there were football games on the television and since I was on the high school football team watching the games became more important than playing with my siblings. As I am writing this article I am realizing that I too was a part of the changing of how we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in America today. There are so many things that claim our attention that has little or nothing to do with taking time to thank the Lord for His blessings.

As we advance in years in our lives things are continually changing. As a result, Thanksgiving Day has lost its meaning in our lives today. Yes, I am sure that there are still some families and individuals that hold to the traditions that they have held for many years. I confess that the special feelings that I once had now seem to escape me. There is a need for me to remember Thanksgiving Day of yester years. It seems to me that maybe this is the purpose of Psalm 105 and Psalm 106.

Psalm 105:6 calls the people of Israel to remember that they are the seed of Abraham, God’s covenant people that He chose for Himself. God made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed it on an oath to Isaac and again to Jacob. God promised to give the land of Canaan to His people. However, they could not immediately claim the land. They could only wander in the land as strangers. Abraham’s descendants lived in Egypt for over 300 years until the Lord sent Moses to rescue them from their bondage to Pharoah, ruler of Egypt. Even after they had escaped from Egypt the people wandered in the wilderness for forty years. As they wandered in the wilderness God fed them with manna and quail and gave them water from a rock. God remembered His promise. The people took possession of the land that God promised to give to Abraham’s descendants.

The people were expected to fulfill God’s purposes. “He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the people’s labor. So that they might keep His statutes And observe His laws, Praise the LORD!” (Ps. 105:44-45). There is a lot of political talk going on in America. People are loudly expressing their political opinions, and people are taking side on many issues. However, in our society of diverse people no one is talking about what the Lord has said. There are many complaints about many things, and these things are legitimate concerns, but we should not forget to thank God for the blessings that He has given to us. We should remind ourselves that God has given us guidelines for fairness, justice and righteousness in His Holy Scriptures in the Bible.

Psalm 106 tells us that Israel failed to live up to the covenant. Israel joined with the idolatrous people of the land and worshiped the gods of people that hated them. These same people oppressed them and ruled harshly over them. God saved them many times because God remembered His covenant when the people cried out to be saved (see Book of Judges).

On this Thanksgiving Day I pray that people of America; especially those of us that call ourselves Christian will take the time to remember God’s covenant made through Jesus the Christ who died to save us from our sins and reconcile us back to God the Father in heaven. I pray that we will not replace the Lord with commercialism and pleasures. God deserves our worship and He deserves our praise because He is a gracious God, full of grace, mercy and compassion.