Give Thanks By Henry Smith

Give Thanks By Henry Smith

Artist: Don Moen

Author: Henry Smith Jr.

Henry Smith Jr. was born in Crossnore, North Carolina, in 1952. Of the nearly 300 songs he has written, only one has been published

In 1978 in an apartment in Williamsburg, Virginia, a young seminary graduate named Henry Smith was struggling to find work and coming to terms with a degenerative eye condition that would eventually leave him legally blind. Despite those hardships, Henry found hope in 2 Corinthians 8:9 and penned "Give Thanks," one of the most beloved songs of our time. "And now let the weak say, 'I am strong'; Let the poor say, 'I am rich' because of what the Lord has done."

Shortly thereafter my wife, Cindy, and I sang the song at our church. We repeated it a number of times over a period of several weeks.”

“A military couple, who attended our church for awhile, carried the song back with them to Germany. As far as I know that is how my song got to Europe. It did a lot of traveling before it was actually published.”

“In 1986, eight years after the writing of the song, a friend brought a cassette tape to me and said, ’Listen to this song and see if you have ever heard it. After listening to the selection I said, ‘I wrote that song!’ My friend had ordered the tape from a music company, and ‘Give Thanks’ was listed on the cassette label as ‘author unknown.’”

“I called the company and told them I had written the song. Their response was, ‘Good! We have been trying to find you.’ Since then more than 50 recording companies have produced ‘Give Thanks.’ It has been published in a number of hymn books.”

A few years later, the Smiths attended a live Integrity Music recording session in Washington, D. C., conducted by Don Moen. During the session, Moen played a recording for the audience with Henry’s song being sung in the Russian language. Henry said, “My wife and I began to weep. We were overwhelmed to hear my song being sung in that language. Moen had no idea we were in the audience.”

Give Thanks – Lyrics

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

Give thanks