I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.
Today’s song is We Plough the Fields and Scatter from 1782. It began as a German poem.
1 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 heav’n above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all His love.
2 He only is the maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star.
The wind and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.
[Refrain]
3 We thank You, our Creator, for all things bright and good:
The seedtime and the harvest, our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer for all Your love imparts;
Accept what You most welcome: our humble, thankful hearts!
[Refrain]
I do remember singing this one as part of harvest thanksgiving services. One might think that it was more suited to farming communities, but the wider message is thanking God for all His provisions. I think of what the Apostle Paul spoke to the pagans when they mistook him for a god. He pointed to the true God:
Acts 14:14-18
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
In the New Testament, anytime anyone gave undue veneration to anyone other than God, they were taken to task. But Jesus accepted worship – because though human, He is also God incarnate.
Nowadays, we explain it all scientifically. Maybe in the past, people thought that rain came directly from heaven. Yet, God is active in it all. And it’s good to remind ourselves of that. How do we explain when nature goes wrong? In the Bible it’s tied into the fall of mankind – the sin of Adam and Eve – which we all replicate every day in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Genesis 3, lists some immediate consequences, such as work becoming more difficult and pain during childbirth. But the Apostle Paul, in Romans, describes how the flawed world will one day change.
Romans 8:18
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
But if God is in control of the world, why did He allow it to go wrong? The way I see it, it’s part of His plan and purpose. I think of how happy Friday night and Saturday were when I went to school and work. And I went downhill on Sunday when I thought of what I’d have to face the next day 😀. So heaven (or the new heaven and new earth) will be like one eternal Friday and Saturday. It’ll be more joyful knowing what we’ve escaped from – a world where people declared their independance from God, and suffered the consequences. And back in my working years, Sundays were happier for me when there was a bank holiday on Monday. So in heaven there won’t be any Mondays to dread – or they’ll be happy mondays – that’s the name of a rock group 😀.
Here they are – from 1990 – not the sort of thing that a Christian should listen to – but I can like songs without approving of the behaviour of a group. Even some worship songs come from sources that people disapprove of 😀.
But music, like everything else, is God’s gift. We had flaws to it, but I like to focus on what’s good in it all.
And here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
