Crowning the Year With Goodness: A Thanksgiving Message

As we move into this week in which we celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving, I’ll forgo the usual reminders of the history of the day, the Pilgrims, and so on. Hopefully, we’ve kept those wonderful things in mind.

Instead, I simply will share with you some words on Thanksgiving from my favorite preacher. In calling for a day of Thanksgiving in his own church in September of 1863, Spurgeon spoke from Psalm 65:11 and the words: “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.” (Thanksgiving and Prayer, #532)

Simply thinking of how God crowns our year, each and every year, each and every day of the year, Spurgeon said.

“All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; both when we sleep and when we wake, his mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave off shining, but our God will never cease to cheer his children with his love. Like a river his lovingkindness is always flowing, with a fullness inexhaustible as his own nature, which is its source. Like the atmosphere which always surrounds the earth, and is always ready to support the life of man, the benevolence of God surrounds all his creatures; in it, as in their element they live, and move, and have their being. Yet as the sun on summer days appears to gladden us with beams more warm and bright than at other times, and as rivers are at certain seasons swollen with the rain, and as the atmosphere itself on occasions is fraught with more fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than heretofore, so is it with the mercy of God: it hath its golden hours, its days of overflow, when the Lord magnifieth his grace and lifteth high his love before the sons of men.”

Indeed, this ought to be such a time. We ought to be thankful each and every day, but especially during this “holiday” season, we ought to be especially mindful of His mercy and grace. What amazing grace it is. And seeing that grace, embracing that mercy, upholding God’s crowing gifts in our life is the very best way to celebrate the season.

Spurgeon saw that as well, and concluded his message with a few suggestions about how we could truly see God’s crowning goodness in our lives. And I’ll leave you with those same suggestions, praying you may see God’s grace and goodness this Thanksgiving season.

The whole subject seems to give us one or two suggestions as to matters of duty. “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.” One suggestion is this: some of you in this house are strangers to God, you have been living as his enemies, and you will probably die so. But what a blessing it would be if a part of the crown of this year should be your conversion! “The harvest is past and the summer is ended, and ye are not saved.” But oh, what a joy, if this very day you should turn unto God and live! Remember, the way of salvation was freely proclaimed last Sabbath morning, it runs in this style — “This is the commandment, that ye believe on Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.” Soul, if this day thou trustest in Christ, it shall be thy spiritual birthday, it shall be unto thee the beginning of days; emancipated from thy chains, delivered from the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, thou shalt be the Lord’s free man. What sayest thou? O that the Spirit of God would bring thee this day to turn unto him with full purpose of heart.

Another suggestion. Would not the Lord crown this year with his goodness if he would move some of you to do more for him than you have ever done before? Cannot you think of some new thing that you have forgotten, but which is in the power of your hand? Can you not do it for Christ to-day? — some fresh soul you have never conversed with, some fresh means of usefulness you have never attempted?

And lastly, would not it be well for us if the Lord would crown this year with his goodness by making us begin from this day to be more prayerful?
Let our prayer meetings have more at them, and let everyone in his closet pray more for the preacher, pray more for the Church. Let us, everyone of us, give our hearts anew to Christ. What say you to-day, to renew your consecration vow? Let us say to him, “Here, Lord, I give myself away to thee once more. Thou hast bought me with thy blood, accept me over again; from this good hour I will begin a new life for a second time if thy Spirit be with me. Help me, Lord, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” Amen.

And Amen.