Thanksgiving Time!

I would indeed like to reflect on some traditional Thanksgiving songs this week, but we'll get to that tomorrow.  During two different worship services yesterday, a couple of lines jumped out at me that I wanted to remember. As I was unable to post yesterday due to a DSL outage and to my own unwillingness to blog on an Iphone-sized keyboard, those are the words I'd like you to hear today.


My church participates in a yearly community Thanksgiving service with about 5 other churches of varying denominations. The location rotates each year, and the host church is responsible for planning to music portion of the service. One song selected last night at this year's service was "He Reigns," popularized by The Newsboys and written by their former lead singer Peter Furler along with Steve Taylor.


This has been a pretty popular song, and certainly I was familiar with it, but apparently sometime after the first verse, I stopped listening to the words, because as we got further into the song, I found I didn't know it. That verse had a few lines that really jumped out at me.


Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this…
Glory, glory! Hallelujah, He reigns!


Now that is something to be thankful for!  He reigns!  There is a kingdom of God, and He reigns!  The powers of darkness do not reign.  I do not reign, the president does not reign, OPEC does not reign, political parties do not reign, the UN does not reign, members of organizations that people make up conspiracy theories about do not reign, the TSA does not reign. The Lord God Almighty reigns.  Blessed be His name.


The other song I know quite well: Chris Tomlin's Sing, Sing, Sing. And though I've given this bit of lyric thought before, I expect it jumped out at me because I knew I was planning on writing about themes of thanksgiving in this space.


We will sing, sing, sing
Grateful that He hears us


Indeed!  The same Lord who reigns and who created all, who brought Israel through the Exodus, who defeated mighty kings, who gives food to all creatures, who took on the nature of a servant, who was born, beaten, killed, buried and raised, to whom all knees will bow and whose lordship all tongues will confess hears me.  I try to give thanks, and He hears me. I make feeble attempts to sing praise, and he Hears me.  I have the presumption to try and engage others as we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and call it "leading worship", and He hears us all together.  Yes, we will sing and be profoundly grateful that He hears us. He has done great things, and He has shown us tender mercy.  He reigns, and I am grateful that He hears me.