Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart

"Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart" is an American Christian worship song written by Henry Smith in 1978. It is sung in F Major with an irregular meter.[1]

History

"Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart" was written in 1978 by Henry Smith, his only published worship song out of 300 compositions.[2] It came about after Smith had trouble finding work after graduating from university. He also suffered from a degenerative condition that later left him legally blind.[3] While at his church in Williamsburg, Virginia, his pastor inspired him with a reference to how Jesus made himself poor to make others rich through him. When Smith started performing the song in church, a visiting United States Military officer took the song to Europe, where its popularity spread from.[2] In 1986, Integrity Music published the song on their Hosanna! Music audio cassette but credited the author as "author unknown". Later in that year, Don Moen released the song on his Give Thanks album.[4] Smith contacted Integrity to inform them of his authorship and they said that they had been attempting to track him down. As a result, Smith signed writer-publisher agreement with Integrity with them to distribute "Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart".[2]

The lyrics to "Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart" have been erroneously credited to Moen rather than Smith in some media reports.[5] In the United States, the song was used by a Catholic news website to focus on returning a Christian focus to Thanksgiving celebrations.[6] Though the song has also been cited by Christian authors as song to be used for thanksgiving[7] as well as a song to offer thanks to God.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Give Thanks (Smith)". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  2. 1 2 3 Terry, Lindsay (2008). I Could Sing of Your Love Forever: Stories Behind 100 of the World's Most Popular Worship Songs. Thomas Nelson Inc. pp. 62–63. ISBN 1418574651.
  3. ↑ "Henry Smith". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  4. ↑ "Lyrics for "Give Thanks" by Don Moen". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  5. ↑ "Give thanks with a grateful heart". The North Augusta Star. 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  6. ↑ "Happy Thanksgiving Day: Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart". Catholic Online. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  7. ↑ Meyer, Joyce (2008). "November 21". Ending Your Day Right: Devotions for Every Evening of the Year. Hachette UK. ISBN 0446548812.
  8. ↑ White, Linda (1999). Lift Up Your Hearts: Songs for Creative Worship. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 114. ISBN 0664501443.
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