Thanksgiving and Calling of the President
Leadership in a Day of Giving Thanks For God's Many Blessings
Howdy!
Today for our next stop on the DPW train we will be moving from fasting to thanksgiving. Ironic of course if you are from North America. Yet in God’s providence it is good to always think of breaking a fast (breakfast) with a glorious feast in the presence of the Almighty. We serve a Lord who wants us to be joyous and full of glory in the good things He has done. Our own holiday called Thanksgiving was meant, and still should be seen as, a time of national positive prayer for the blessings of Jehovah upon this country. In my own family history it has long been the practice for us to each take a moment before we eat to say something more than just “family” that we are thankful that the Lord has done in the past year. It’s good to take stock of God’s mercies, especially those which are ordinary and extraordinary.
For the purposes of the directory for public worship it is the latter kinds of providences that this chapter has in mind. For the writers of the DPW fresh on their mind would have been events like the defeat of the Spanish Armada or the extinguishing of the gunpowder plot. These works of mercy that they understood God to have provided gave them peace and comfort. However, another matter that would soon be on their agenda for a day of thanksgiving was the horrible London fire of 1666. Now, we have to ask the question why would they be holding a solemn day of thanksgiving after a horrendous destructive moment like that? Simply put because when we come together to praise God it is not so that we can say in a kind of morose fatalistic way, “well it could have been worse”, but so that in the midst of the pain and anguish we can thank Him for His protection, and for His faithfulness despite the destruction and death for we are those who mourn not as the world mourns. We who rest in God do so because He is sovereign over all.
Here is the section of the Directory for today. Let’s read it together:
WHEN any such day is to be kept, let notice be given of it, and of the occasion thereof, some convenient time before, that the people may the better prepare themselves thereunto.
The day being come, and the congregation (after private preparations) being assembled, the minister is to begin with a word of exhortation, to stir up the people to the duty for which they are met, and with a short prayer for God’s assistance and blessing, (as at other conventions for publick worship,) according to the particular occasion of their meeting.
Let him then make some pithy narration of the deliverance obtained, or mercy received, or of whatever hath occasioned that assembling of the congregation, that all may better understand it, or be minded of it, and more affected with it.
And, because singing of psalms is of all other the most proper ordinance for expressing of joy and thanksgiving, let some pertinent psalm or psalms be sung for that purpose, before or after the reading of some portion of the word suitable to the present business.
As with fasting the “notice” spoken of is assumed to be given by first the civil authorities, whether that be the President or a Governor in our context. There is an assumption built into the directory that the government will have an interest in keeping God on their side, and not just any God, but the God of the Bible, who is the only true and living Deity in existence. The word is full of these types of admonitions for rulers of the secular sphere. All would be wise for instance to listen to the warning of the prophet in Psalm 75:7-8, “But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.”
A ruler who does not humble Himself before Jesus Christ has this promise given to him by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:
“Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
Hence why it is vital for us to pray that we would live in a peaceable nation whose God is the Holy One of Israel, the Potentate of Time and Glory. These days of Thanksgiving are a good reminder of our need to remember Him in the day of trial and of awesomeness. We are so used to fake acts of invoking the name of the Lord that we have become almost numb to them. Yet, whenever we see the Fifth Commandment spoken about we are wise to remember that generally speaking especially when it comes to acts of piety that what is expected of the king is expected of the minister, elder, father, and individual in their own space and place.
In closing, to that end when you think about what this call to humble thanksgiving looks like in the church it often is attended to the taking of the Lord’s Prayer. There is a reason why traditional Presbyterian practice was to observe the Supper around a table. It was a visible sign of the inward reality that God in His grace had done a wonderful work for us and we are now coming to Him in thanksgiving for the love He poured out to us in His Son Jesus Christ. Yet we would be smart to consider that if God has done something unexpected there is much to be spiritually gained from acting like the man in Luke 15 and the finding of the one lost sheep among the 99. He calls all his friends and neighbors to his home and throws a mega party in order to share in the good news of that which was lost, has now been found. How much more so should those of us ground in Jesus do so when the Lord blesses us. Rejoice in thanksgiving with all.
Last word:
https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/thanksgiving-in-worship
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church