We Gather Together

This Thanksgiving season remembered -- and then could not get out of head -- a dynamite hymn we used to sing, for Thanksgiving --

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.

First, recalled the melodic, reassuring sound and gentle rhythm of the opening line -- "We ga-a -- ther-to-geth-er, to a-ask the Lord' blessing..."
...then looked up the Lyrics and came to the "wicked oppressing" and was like, Whoa, I forgot that part -- gets a little "feisty" there....

Reading on the on-line "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia," it tells us [quoting / excerpt]:

[it's] a Christian hymn of Dutch origin written in 1597 by Adrianus Valerius...to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout. ... In the United States, it is popularly associated with Thanksgiving Day and is often sung at family meals and at religious services on that day.

...At the time the hymn was written, the Dutch were engaged in a war of national liberation against the Catholic King Philip II of Spain.  "Wilt heden nu treden," ("We gather together") resonated because under the Spanish King, Dutch Protestants were forbidden to gather for worship.

...The modern English text was written by Theodore Baker in 1894.

According to Michael Hawn, (professor of sacred music at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology), "by World War I, we started to see ourselves in this hymn," and the popularity increased during World War II, when "the wicked oppressing" were understood to include Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

[And the general-information-and-history portion of the article ends this way]...

This hymn is often sung at American churches the day before Thanksgiving.

This hymn was sung at the Opening of the Funeral Mass for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

-------------------------- [end "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia" excerpt]
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(Hmmh -- that was a little surprise! -- usually I read about Jackie Kennedy to learn stuff -- she leads, I follow -- but in this case, I was researching deeper into something I was already interested in, & had experienced, and then -- she shows up!)

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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.

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!

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!

We praise thee, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,
In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
We lay it before thee, we kneel and adore thee,
We bless Thy holy name, glad praises we sing.

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