We Gather Together

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 

~Psalms 69:30

As a child, one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving was the song we sang at school; We Gather Together.  We weren't told very much of it's background just that it points us to God and his provision for us. That's a big deal, but as an adult, I wanted to know more. Was this a song sung by the Pilgrims? When was it written and by whom? What was its purpose? 

Here's the song we sang at school. We must have sung it repeatedly because I still remember most of the words 60-plus years later. 

Theodore Baker, 1894

Verse 1:
We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Verse: 2
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

Verse 3:
We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

The verses seem to fit perfectly with all the Pilgrims faced - persecution in England, flight to Holland, and then feeling the necessity of going to America because their children were becoming too Dutch. So what is the background of this beautiful Thanksgiving hymn? 

The Dutch were at war with the Spanish in 1597 when an unknown author penned the words, which are not exactly the same as the English. Be that as it may, Adrianus Valerius collected Dutch folk songs and put them to music. His son published the collection in 1626, the year after Valerius's death. Though the Pilgrims may have known the song, they would have associated it with the war with Spain. It was in Dutch, not English. They were separatists seeking freedom of worship, not war. 

That leads us to the next question: How did the song get here, and in English? More research led me to the New Amsterdam colony in New York. These Dutch colonists brought the song early in the 17th Century. It wasn't until 1894 that Theodore Baker translated it into English and Latin. It then began to be published in American hymnals in the early 20th Century. 

Regardless of the song's origins, I still think it's an appropriate song with which to praise the name of God and magnify Him with thanksgiving.

Heavenly Father, thank you for creating songs. They are so easy to remember. Thank you, that you have allowed men to write songs that praise you and magnify your name because there is no other name above You. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Hey Kids:

Research often seems so boring but when we are researching things we really want to know the task is not so tedious.

Do you have a favorite song? 

Maybe you're already singing Christmas songs.

Why did someone write your favorite song? 

When did they write it?

Is it still serving the same purpose or like We Gather Together, has it taken on a new meaning?