November 16, 2023 A Time of Gathering
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.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4 KJV).
A Time of Gathering
Although the Court in 1963 banned “school-sponsored” prayer, many teachers for several years after the decision continued to open their first class of the day with a “devotional” activity. This generally consisted of reading from the Book of Psalms and/or singing a hymn. During the Thanksgiving week, we inevitably sang “We Gather Together.”
Thanksgiving is a time of gathering. After the events of the year, which may have left us exhausted like the disciples in John 21 who had toiled all night and “caught nothing” (v. 4). We might have battled some unexpected illness, experienced the sad loss of loved ones, battled job-related stress, etc. But it’s the harvest season now, and like the weary men on the boat in Galilee who heard the voice of a shadowy figure on the beach calling them to “Come and eat” (v. 12), we gather with family and friends to unwind, ask the Lord’s blessing, feast, cease from stressing, watch football, crack on each other, laugh, “be thankful unto Him and bless His name.”
Jesus, their (our) Lord and Master, and their hope for a better future had been crucified and buried! The disciples were feeling lost and defeated. Even the fish that had been their livelihood seemed to elude them! They were at the brink of what they felt was an utter disaster, but the figure on the beach was the resurrected Savior! They were really on the brink of a bountiful harvest, about to gather with the One who called them “friends” and feast on a meal prepared by the hands of the divine Son of God!