The Second Thanksgiving

Psalm 141:1-5

A psalm of David.

1O LORD, I am calling to you. Please hurry!

Listen when I cry to you for help!

2Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,

and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

3Take control of what I say, O LORD,

and keep my lips sealed.

4Don’t let me lust for evil things;

don’t let me participate in acts of wickedness.

Don’t let me share in the delicacies

of those who do evil.

5Let the godly strike me!

It will be a kindness!

If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine.

Don’t let me refuse it.

But I am in constant prayer

against the wicked and their deeds.

The year was 1623. The Pilgrims had been in the New World for two and a half years. The first Thanksgiving of 1621 was only a memory by this time because this summer’s drought was jeopardizing everything. Not even the Indians could remember anything like it. The settlers had planted more corn than before, but without any rainfall, there would be no harvest. Daily they had prayed that God would send rain, but he hadn’t answered. As the psalmist did in Psalm 141:1, they were begging God to hurry.

Finally, the settlers set aside an entire day for prayer and worship. As they went for worship, the “heavens were as clear and the drought as like to continue as it ever was,” yet when they left their meeting, “the weather was overcast, the clouds gathered on all sides.” For the next fourteen days there were “moderate showers of rain,” according to Edward Winslow, one of the pilgrims.

The Indians watched and were amazed at how the God of the new settlers had answered their prayers, and that year, after the harvest, a second Thanksgiving was celebrated with the Indians joining in as well.

“Hurry up, Lord,” we often prod, wondering why the Almighty doesn’t seem to be in as much of a rush as we are. Sometimes we need to set our watches to his clock.

Not so in haste, my heart! Have faith in God and wait;

Although He linger long, He never comes too late.

He never comes too late; He knoweth what is best;

Vex not thyself in vain; until He cometh, rest.

BRADFORD TORREY

Bible Networking

The psalmist says he is “in constant prayer” (verse 5). Read Philippians 4:6-7 to learn of the peace that comes through such prayer.

Notable Quotable

“True prayer is putting oneself under God’s influence.”

H. E. FOSDICK