Sing to the Lord of Harvest, ELW 694
1. Sing to the Lord of harvest your songs of love and praise; with joyful hearts and voices your alleluias raise; by him the rolling seasons in fruitful order move; sing to the Lord of harvest a joyous song of love.
2. God makes the clouds drop fatness, the desert bloom and spring, the hills leap up in gladness, the valleys laugh and sing.
God fills them with his fullness, all things with large increase, and crowns the year with goodness, with plenty and with peace.
3. Bring to this scared altar the gifts his goodness gave, the golden sheaves of harvest, the souls Christ died to save.
Your hearts lay down before him when at his feet you fall, and with your lives adore him who gave his life for all.
Devotion
“Well, her heart was in the right place.” Sometimes this is what we say when a person does a thing that wasn’t all that great, but was done with the best of intentions. All this talk about stewardship in this week’s texts is a way of asking ourselves, “Where is our heart in all of this?”
The hymn-writer suggests that our hearts should be filled with joy and humbly offered to the Holy One with thanksgiving for all that we have received. When the reality at the center of our heart is gratitude, it gives us a whole new perspective that can free us from the grasping anxiety that takes hold of us so easily. What signs of God’s goodness do you see in your life today? What joyous song of love will you sing to God in reply?
Prayer
Most Gracious God, words of thanks and praise to you are not enough, but they are a good start. Live in me so that my words and my deeds may reflect your generous goodness all the days of my life…beginning today. Amen.