Thanksgiving

In 1612 in Amsterdam, Henry Ainsworth published The Book of Psalmes: Englished both in Prose and Metre with Annotations (Amsterdam, 1612) for the use of Protestant separatist congregations in Holland. The Psalter contained 39 tunes, of English,Dutch and French origin.

This Ainsworth Psalter was brought to Plymouth Colony in 1620 by America's Pilgrim Fathers, and was used there for a generation until the printing of the Bay Psalm Book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre, in 1640 - the first book to be printed in the colonies.

It seems timely on this, America's day of Thanksgiving, to read from the pilgrim's Ainsworth Psalter, Psalm 100 - a psalm of thanksgiving for his mercies to us:

Psalm 100

Showt to Jehovah, al the earth.

Serv ye Jehovah with gladnes: before him come with singing-merth.

Know that Jehovah he God is:
It’s he that made us, and not wee,his folk, and sheep of His feeding.

Oh with confession enter yee
his gates, his courtyards with praising:
Confess to him, bless ye his name.

Because Jehovah he good is;
his mercy ever is the same:
and his faith unto al ages.

(You can sing it to the tune of Old 100th.) Listen to Psalm 4 from the Ainsworth Psalter sung here. Be patient - it comes after the Latin Ubi caritas.



This Thanksgiving I give thanks:

• For the mercies of our loving and faithful God and for the saving grace of his son, Jesus Christ.
• For overwhelming gifts of kindness from both friends and strangers since the flood.
• For my precious family and for the privilege of having been raised in a loving Christian home.
• For the ability to homeschool Jemimah and for wonderful ladies of the AO Advisory.
• For enduring friendships, both virtual and real life.

P.S. I learned about the Ainsworth Psalter here.