Sing to the Lord of harvest,
Sing songs of love and praise;
With joyful hearts and voices
Your hallelujahs raise;
By Him the rolling seasons
In fruitful order move;
Sing to the Lord of harvest
A song of grateful love.
By Him the clouds drop fatness,
The deserts bloom and spring,
The hills leap up in gladness,
The valleys laugh and sing;
He filleth with His fullness
All things with large increase;
He crowns the year with goodness,
With plenty and with peace.
Heap on His sacred altar
The gifts His goodness gave:
The golden sheaves of harvest,
The souls He died to save;
Your hearts lay down before Him
When at His feet ye fall,
And with your lives adore Him
Who gave His life for all.
Once again it is autumn and harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated this weekend, and along with family gatherings, people express thanks to God for the many blessings we enjoy – particularly for our bounty of food, but also for nature’s beauty, for caring friends and for spiritual nourishment. The above hymn suggests that we give our hearts and lives to the Lord in return for His gifts to us, including His own life. We might also be reminded to share our plenty with those who are in need.
John Monsell was born in 1811 as the son of an Irish clergyman and was educated and ordained at Trinity College, Dublin. He held various posts in Ireland and England. Sadly, he died in 1875 as the result of an accident that occurred while building work was being carried out at his church in Guildford, Surrey. Although John Monsell lived only sixty-four years, he wrote about three hundred poems and hymns, this one showing his exuberant gratitude for all God had given. That was in spite of the fact he would have lived through the “Irish Potato Famine”, which occurred from 1845 to 1852. Perhaps that is why, once life had improved again, he felt so thankful for the abundance he described.
