Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

One of the traditional Thanksgiving hymns is Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. This song rejoices in all that God has given in the harvest physically around us. On a much deeper note, it reminds us of the analogy as followers of Christ as we consider our own faith and walk with the Lord. Further, it looks upward to a coming day when God gathers all of His harvest together in heaven. For sure, this is a beautiful song. You will enjoy both videos below.

Below you will find the lyrics, read a bit about the theology of the hymn, the story of the author, and be able to hear several renditions of this old, beautiful hymn. Sing along, if you like, and rejoice in the opportunity to join in with Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come Lyrics

The Theology

In 1844, Henry Alford published this hymn in his Psalms and Hymns, under the title “After Harvest.” He was rector of a rural parish in England at that time, and the text was written for a harvest festival. Although it was originally written with seven stanzas, Alford revised and shortened it to include only four in his Poetical Works in 1865. He wrote in a footnote there that he did not approve of the various other revisions that had been made without his consent. Nevertheless, the standard text now in use is significantly different from Alford’s in the fourth stanza.

“Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” combines the image of an autumn harvest (st. 1) with two of Jesus parables, from Mark 4:26-29 (st. 2, second half) and Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (st. 2-4). It is commonly sung as a song of rejoicing over a bountiful harvest, which it appears to be from the first stanza. However, it is really a more sobering text and may have been intended to provoke Christians to consider whether they are truly people of God (represented by the wheat in Jesus’ parable of Matthew 13), or merely lookalikes (represented by the weeds – also called “tares” in some translations). The second stanza closes with a brief prayer that God would enable those who sing to be true Christian disciples, while the fourth stanza is a prayer that the Lord would soon return for the final harvest.[2]

 

The Author

Alford, Henry, author

Alford, Henry, D.D., (1810-1871) his literary labors extended to every department of literature, but his noblest undertaking was his edition of the Greek Testament, the result of 20 years’ labor. His hymnological and poetical works were numerous, and included the compiling of collections, the composition of original hymns, and translations from other languages. As a hymn-writer, they are evangelical in their teaching. His most popular hymns are “Come, ye thankful  people, come,” “In token that thou  shalt  not fear,” and “Forward be our watchword.” He wrote several poetical and hymnological works, including, the Psalms and Hymns of 1844, and the Year of Praise, 1867.[1]

 

Enjoy This Media

Some groups singing the song from YouTube:

Let me encourage you to watch this rendition of this beautiful hymn. You will be blessed that you did.

Traditional congregational singing.

Here is one of the early published copies from Hymns and Songs of Praise for Public and Social Worship, song #431 from 1874 [4]:

Here is a more modern version from my childhood hymnbook Favorite Hymns of Praise #509 [6]:

 

---

Link to Other Blogs in this Series