George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York , the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
This is the original proclaimation signed by George Washington in 1789 making Thanksgiving a national holiday. He said it well, didn’t he? If anyone out there thinks that these words were used because our founding fathers intended there to be NO Christian values in this newly formed government, then you need to get a copy of this and re-read it.
It begins with the words "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor" and goes on to say it is "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God" That is pretty plain language, isn’t it?
I know it is the weekend after Thanksgiving...but I would like for us to give pause to the "sermon" that George Washington "preached" back in 1789 when he signed this proclaimation into law. Notice that he writes this day is "to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies"
Food, family, football (I loves me some Cowboys...) Thanksgiving means different things to different people these days.....but THIS is what it was intented to be. Devoted to the service of God, the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be! Let’s look at just a few of the things we might have overlooked this past Thursday....
GEN 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
We are created in God’s image.Isn’t it wonderful and comforting to know we have not evolved from some ancient muddy glob, or some slimey thing that crawled out of the ocean, but rather have been created by the hand of the Mighty God. That means He gave us Similar to Him, He gave us a us a trinity: body, soul and spirit. You are unique from ALL other creatures because of that. It is a SPECIAL privilige that God Himself gave to you personally. No one ever lived that is just like you, and no one ever will. You are literally one of a kind. (In some cases, a good thing!!) Psalm 100:3, 4: “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
He sent His own son to redeem us, and one day we will reign! REV 5:9And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
We were purchased with HIS blood....the precious blood of Jesus.Did you know that there is no remission of sin except for the shedding of blood? Aren’t you glad we live under the new covenant? MAT 26:28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Now THAT"S freedom!!! It perhaps says it best in II Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” It is truly "joy unspeakable and full of glory!"
Let us thank Him for His holiness.....He is like none other, isn’t He? REV 4:8 says Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." We don’t serve a pagan God who doesn’t care about us. We serve a mighty, just and pure God and we should all be thankful that He is not cruel and immoral like so many of the "gods" that un-enlightened people worship. Psalm 97:12: “Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”
For His mercy....Psalm 103:1, 8: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” I don’t know about you, but I’m VERY thankful for that!
For other Christians....That’s right. We are instructed not only to pray for other believers, but to actually thank God for them. Time and again, the apostle Paul did this even though most of the time he was having trouble keeping them on the path that he had laid out for them. He was constantly having trouble with christians, wasn’t he? But what did he do? Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you ….”He thanked God for each and every one of them! Lesson for ALL of us there....
For victory.....I Corinthians 15:57: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This means we have victory over the world, the devil, temptation, lust, fear and ultimately death itself. YOu HAVE victory.....some of you just don’t know it yet!
How about this one...For allowing us to give to Him of our tithes and offerings. ALLOWING us? YES!!! Mal 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. Thank you God for ALLOWING me to tithe and not be under the curse......You should make sure that that is done before ANYTHING else.....it is more important for you to tithe than to with-hold money back for Christmas presents. God says "test me on this." Psalm 50:14: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High.”
For anything and everything....why? I Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It is the will of God, that’s why! Yeah, it’s hard to do sometimes! How can we possibly thank God when financial loss comes our way, or when medical crisis comes to us? During these critical moments we must ever remind ourselves that God often permits these tragedies so that through them we might ultimately be blessed.
One more thing.....HE’S COMING BACK! He is a perfect God, my friends, and worthy of our constant praise. May we all spend time thanking Him for these essential gifts to us this Thanksgiving....as was inteneded by Him AND the founding Fathers of this great country. In the words of George Washington, "And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."
