We Plow the Fields and Scatter

We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

Refrain
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

He only is the Maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.

Written in 1782 by Matthias Claudius, this hymn maybe hard to relate to for many of us, including myself. I didn’t grow up on a farm. I have never lived where I relied on the harvest for my family to eat, or to be my source of income. I have been blessed in that I’ve always had a Rudy’s Best Yet grocery store, or Red Food store, or Walmart in the towns I have lived in. But I wonder sometimes if this blessing has in some way become a curse in America. Has the blessing of “abundance” created in me, and maybe in our culture, a self-reliance or a lack of a dependence on God? In my mind, I don’t have to trust the Lord for rain and for a harvest. I just go to the store and buy (whether with cash or on credit) the things that I need for the day, for the week, or for the month.

I think this “abundance” has also negatively impacted the discipline of tithing, also known as “first fruits.” In the Old Testament days, God’s people were commanded to bring the first fruits to the temple, and then trust that the Lord would bring in the rest of the harvest. If you are like me, I get a paycheck all at once and pay tithes from that paycheck. There is no reliance on God to bring in the “rest of the harvest.” Tithing, in some ways, is no longer an act of faith, but an act of giving of what I have already received.

I decided to select this hymn because I hope that it encourages us to
acknowledge the source of our blessings. It is not in our hard work (although I believe God wants His people to be hard working). It is not in our intelligence and wisdom (although I believe God has given us His Word, His Spirit, and wisdom to help us in our lives). But, it is by His Hand that we are fed. It is by His grace that we are able to enjoy the blessings He gives. “It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.”

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread” – This particular line is really a combination of several scripture verses and the words of Jesus. The first part of the line relates to Jesus’ words found in Luke 12:23-24 where the Bible tells us “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” The author closes the verse with familiar words from the Lord’s prayer – our daily bread. Not our weekly bread, not our monthly bread, not enough money to fill the pantry for a year. But a daily bread reminding us of our daily reliance upon Him.

• “But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts”– One of my favorite verses I like to share with my kids is Micah 6:8 which reads “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The author of this hymn uses the word “desirest,” but the Bible uses “requires” when it refers to a heart of humility. Although they appear to be in conflict, I think both are correct. To approach God, we must humble ourselves before His Almighty Hand. We are required to take a position of humility and to admit that we are sinners and can do nothing to earn our salvation. But I also think God desires for His children to be humble and thankful. I require my kids to say “please” and “thank you,” but how much more of a blessing it is when they are thankful on their own, and they truly mean it.

One of my favorite old movie stars Jimmy Stewart as a Southern widower named Charlie Anderson. The movie is called “Shenandoah” and is set in the mountains of Virginia during the Civil War, and many of you may be familiar with it. It is great movie with some great one-liners, but it is also a sad movie as well. There is a scene in the movie where the family has gathered around the table for a meal. Mr. Anderson, the patriarch, begins to eat, and one of his children stops him, and asks him to pray for the food first. If you haven’t seen the movie, just envision an older George Bailey saying the following words, or better yet here’s a link to a youtube video of the prayer.

https://youtu.be/XbZUufk7KYQ?si=f3l-oLy9s612pJ4C

The prayer reads as follows:

“Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvest it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we’re about to eat, amen.”

Can you see the contrast between this prayer and the prayer found in today’s hymn? I wonder if we have an attitude in prayer like Charlie Anderson sometimes. I wonder if we don’t really see God’s hand at work in the blessings we have because, in our minds, we have worked so hard to pay for those things. Or I wonder if we aren’t truly thankful for what we have because we are too busy wanting what someone else has. Maybe we are even arrogant in thinking somehow our industriousness, our intelligence, or our work ethic has made us successful, and we are solely responsible for the blessings that we have. Maybe our prayers are not only hollow, but can come out of mere ritual or come from an ungrateful heart, like you see with Charlie Anderson.

I pray that this Thanksgiving that we all pause and take time to truly “count
our blessings.” To pause and realize that “every good and perfect gift comes
from the Father above.” To truly have a sense of gratefulness and thankfulness. We have so much to be thankful for, and a truly thankful heart is what God is desiring from His children. Have a Blessed Thanksgiving, and I encourage you to Give Blessed Thanks!!