The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1889-11-29
Thanksgiving Day Services.

"eio1n. iAe ii"usc was Hol ny any
means crowded, but a goodly number
we've present. The services were pre-.
sid;ded over by Rev. d. w. Tracy, pas
tm of the church, who conducted the
opening exercises, prayer beng offered
by Rev. Mr.. Currans. The music by
the choir was good and appropriate to
the occasion. The choir was ably as.
sisted by Rev. w. s. Peterson, who
presided at the organ.
The Thanksgiving sermon was
preached by Rev. S. Andrews, who
took for his text Psalm XCI[, u: lit is
IL good thing to give thanks unto the
Lord and to sing praises to thy
name. O Most High" Rev. Andrews
said: Christians may learn FROM the
old Jews what seems to be a lost art,
the art of thanksgiving. We might
learn it from these old Psalms, that
include every variety of thankful
strain. from tine shortest reference to
Gods goodness to the fullest account
Of the blessings of the believer, whose
''cuu runncth over'-from the solemn
swell of "Old Hundred" 80 enter then
His gates with praise to the stirring
battle-music of the triumphant martial
ode that seems to rise like clarion notes
from the well-fought field, God is our
refuge and our strength" We find.
these old Jews when deeply afflicted
crying unto their God, and by many
moving appeals invoking his help in
presence of the insulting foe; but
when the 81 of danger has passed
away, in the eight of His counte-
NANCE in the sunshine of His favor,
they do not forget to be thankful. In
songs they "teil of His loving kindness
and tender mercy and in strains of
purest music they declare they twill
praise Him with the whole heart
Throughout the Psalms, as throughout
the Bible. the great subject OF thanks
giving is the divine %dcliverance of the
people of God, who must ever look
back with devout th%ankfalness OH that
important crisis, when after awful
conflict, the great decision was made,
and true repentance, not uninteresting
to angels, awoke III the soul, which
then "passed from death unto life;''
wrestling successfully not only with
flesh and blood but with powers Of
darkness too, it was at length brought
out Of the "house of bondage" God
has in like manner interfered. amid
tcrrors and commissions of nature, to
deliver his people, in Egypt, and in
other lands. 1t is no common struggle,
no ordinary %upheaval, by which the
liberty of a people is secured, and the
solid foundation of their peace is laid.
Is it not always amid terrible convul-
sions such as accompanied the deliver.
ance from Egypt, that a people enters
into that glorious state Of freedom, in
whicl, they have no king but God and
no law but His holy commandments:
Yea, all who have struggled against
the tyrant Of hell, or his royal agents,
have often been pressed beyond meas
ure, %despairing even of life As we
see by the Psalms il was the custom of
the old prophets to commemorate these
great events of the nations history in
songs of praise to God. And would
that me had such devout songs, rehears.
ing Gods mighty acts on behalf of this
nation, to stir our hearts with thanks.
giving, to instruct us in the history Of
our church, and make us grateful 70,
the privileges won for us by u self
denying foressthers! Had we some
singer inspired with the right spirit
we should have a song of thanksgiving
showing how God went forth with His
people when they rose against the foes
of Christian truth and freedom in the
old lands, and by the hand of OLIVER
led them to victory there, and after
wards by WASHINGTON to triumph here
Had not those noble, earnest Puritan:
thus "resisted unto blood s~trivin.
against SIM on many a scatfold and OF
many a battlefield, the course of oul
history would have flowed IN a dfferen,
channel,-the evidences and the soil
tary place" of this boundless wes'
should not lie "glad for them,'' mol
should "thc desert" of the Red mar
"blossom as the rose" as at this day
The Psalms teach us to be thankful fol
natural as well as spiritual blessings
teach us to thank the Giver Of the har
vest. '1'hou crownest the year will
thy goodness, and tiny paths drop fat
ness" Or they present this immense
and most touching spectacle of thu
v. ried multitudinous inhabitants O
the world assembled like one family
round their Fathers table: 1.-THE eye,
Ct all wait on Thee and Thou gives'
them their meat in dus season." ut i.
all wrought by nature" say our unbe
licving scientists. In our simplicity
we had Thought, Mature is but a name
for an effect, whose cause is God" w,
thankfully receive instruction from oul
great scientific men on other subjects