The word “Thanksgiving” is not found in this psalm, but just as the word “god” is not found in Esther, it is everywhere behind the scenes. This is a psalm giving God credit, glory, and thanks. It is a hymn of thanks for God’s provision and for family.
FIVE KERNALS OF CORN Psalm 127 11-19-06 Dr. J. Ben Sloan, Lake Murray Presbyterian
It was the winter after the first Thanksgiving. Maybe you remember the first Thanksgiving was celebrated after Squanto had taught the Pilgrims to grow corn, pumpkins, hunt, and fish. Before the first Thanksgiving when they couldn’t eat, half of their number died from hunger and sickness. In the winter after this great Thanksgiving, the people faced another famine. Each person was rationed five kernels of corn a day! You might think that once they gave thanks they would have no problems with provision. But the pilgrims did not despair. They prayed. Unexpectedly, a ship arrived from Virginia that traded food for beaver pelts, and the colony was saved. The next year in 1623, the Pilgrims planted corn, but there was no rain. A drought threatened to wipe the crop and colony off the map. The leaders declared a day of fasting and prayer. Everyone gathered together in church and prayed. By the time they left, dark clouds were rolling in. For fourteen days it gently rained on the colony. When the harvest came they had more corn than they could eat or store. The Pilgrims planned a second Thanksgiving.
God our Maker doth provide. In our church, we should give thanks that God has blessed us as He has. We truly are living in a time of tremendous blessing.
Psalm 127- Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. This is a great verse. The Pilgrims knew this about their colony. They knew and they learned that they can have all the know-how, all the Indian technology, but if there is no rain, then there would be no food. This is a faith statement. There are people who think that the rain clouds coming at the end of the Pilgrim’s prayer meeting was a coincidence. There are people who think any time a prayer is obviously answered, then it is just a coincidence. But when you work and work and experience frustration after frustration, and run into brick wall after brick wall- remember this verse. We are dependent on things beyond our control to break the right way for us. You may call those things luck or fate, but the church and the Bible call it providence.
There is another aspect to this verse. That is the vanity of work or effort apart from God. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this as well. He said “the work done under the sun was grievous to me, because I must leave it to the one who comes after me, and who knows if that one will be wise or foolish? He says the wise, like the fool will not e long remembered, like the fool, the wise must die” (Ecclesiastes 2). Trust in God adds fruit to the fruit tree. Belief in God adds ultimate meaning and purpose to your everyday behavior, tasks, and the building up of your house- your family, your friends, your welfare.
The Pilgrims first began to plant a joint corn crop. Even though they were a very close community, people were not excited about working on the joint crop. Not much corn was produced. This was kind of a communist system that didn’t work. After 1623, when God obviously provided rain, they went to both a joint community crop and private corn crops, and people willingly went out into the fields to work. They didn’t worry about famine any longer. Even great effort together, apart from God, and seeking God does not work.
In vain you rise up early, toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loves. A good harvest is not the result of hard toil. Having enough to eat does not depend solely on the kind of tractor we use or the chemical fertilizer. Studying for the test in your own strength does not always yield an A+. Working hard does not always ensure the deal or get the promotion. Just as the Pilgrims knew the Indian technique to grow corn, but had no rain to grow it.
One of the first steps of really giving thanks is knowing who to thank. I have often felt for those who do not believe at Thanksgiving. Who do they thank? Themselves? Their lucky stars? Lucianno Pavaratti gives credit to God for his voice, and is now depending on him to help him fight his pancreatic cancer. How many football players pointed up when they kicked a field goal or made a touch down. Many people think they are boasting or are just weird. The NFL forbade praying in the end zone after a touch down. I think that is eliminating freedom of speech. Who do you thank? The scriptures say, “Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it.” Many prefer to labor in vain, to dwell only on the temporary than to give any credit, due, or thanks to God. I would say, if you don’t believe, why does it matter if you thank God- if there is no god. But if you do believe, then thanking God is essential.
According to the folks in Virginia, the first American Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians. The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn't a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60. The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.
South Carolinians can claim a European Thanksgiving too. Jean Ribault, the French Huguenot captain who explored Florida and then founded Fort Caroline at Port Royal 6/11/1562 had a worship service of thanks when they landed in our state. Some folks claimed that when the Spanish came to Winyah Bay there was a service of thanks.
Don Juan De Onate, founder of New Mexico had a worship service of thanks 10/1595.
Canada has a Thanksgiving day too on October 9th. They celebrate Martin Frobisher the explorer who founded Labrador in 1578 had a thanksgiving service.
They also claim about the same time that Samuel De Champlain celebrated a day of thanks as he went down the center of the country.
Do you see a pattern here? When this continent was explored by people from Europe, people stopped and gave thanks to Almighty God. Some say that is insignificant. I think it is very significant, for it is at the very root of who we are.
Some even point to the feast of Succoth in the Old Testament as the basis for all thanksgiving feasts.
For you and I, where and when the first thanksgiving happened doesn’t matter so much as when the last one was. We need times when we stop and give thanks, recognizing God as our provider, and the One who cares for us. Who did it first is not nearly as important.