You'll find a "hymn study" discussion of the song at homeschoolblogger.com
Here's part:

     INTRO.: A hymn which asks God to be for us and praises Him for His help is "We Gather Together." The text, written to celebrate Dutch independence from Spain in the late 16th century, and the tune (Kremser or Netherlands) were both first printed anonymously in the Nederlandtsch Gedenckclank compiled by Adrianus Valerius (c. 1575-1625; some sources give the date of his death as 1620). The work was published at Harlem, the Netherlands, posthumously in 1626, and it is thought that the song dates from around 1625. Sometimes Valerius is identified as the author and/or composer, but most sources now consider the song an anonymous Dutch folk hymn and folk tune. The translation of the text was made by Theodore Baker who was born at New York City, NY, on June 3, 1851. Although he originally prepared for a business career, he turned his interest to music. After his musical training in Germany, where he received his doctoral degree at the University of Leipzig in 1881, he studied the music of the Seneca Indians of North America. From 1892 to 1926 he was a literary editor with G. Shirmer, Inc.

     While with Schirmer Baker translated this Dutch hymn as "We Gather Together" in 1894, for an anthem setting entitled "Prayer of Thanksgiving," and it was first published in the 1917 Dutch Folksongs compiled by Coenraad V. Bos. It has been quite popular. In 1900 Baker, who was active in the promotion of American music and composers, compiled his most famous work, the Biographical Dictionary of Music and Musicians, which is still in print.  In 1927 Baker made an English libretto version of the French cantata Les Sept Paroles du Christ or The Seven Last Words of Christ written and composed by Theodore Dubois (1837-1924). Several of our books have a song, "Christ, We Do All Adore Thee," taken from this. After his retirement in 1927, Baker returned to Germany, and his death occurred at Dresden, Germany, on October 13, 1934. The arrangement of the tune was made by Edward Kremser (1838-1914). It was published at Vienna, Austria, in his 1877 Sechs Altniederlandische Volkslieder. Its first publication in America was in 1894 by Wm. Rohlfing and Sons of Milwaukee.

     Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord’s church during the twentieth century for use in churches of Christ, most include alterations to the original translation made by Elmer Leon Jorgenson (1886-1968). They were made around 1944 when the song was added to the front flyleaf in his 1937 Great Songs of the Church No. 2; it then appeared in the 1975 Supplement.  It was also used in the 1959 Majestic Hymnal No. 2 edited by Reuel Lemmons; the 1963 Christian Hymnal edited by J. Nelson Slater; and the 1963 Abiding Hymns edited by Robert C. Welch. A two-stanza arrangement was made in the 1966 Christian Hymns No. 3 by editor L. O. Sanderson. Today the song may be found in the 1977 Special Sacred Selections (with an arrangement copyright 1963 by M. Lynwood Smith) edited by Ellis J. Crum; the 1978/1983 (Church) Gospel Songs and Hymns edited by V. E. Howard; the 1986 Great Songs Revised edited by Forrest M. McCann; and the 1992 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand.

     In 1902, the popularity of this song apparently prompted J. Archer Gibson, music director of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, NY, to desire another text for the tune. He asked Julia Bulkley Cady (1882-1963; she later married Robert Haskell Cory in 1911). After struggling for two weeks, Julia, who was not long out of school, produced three stanzas.

1. "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."

2. "We worship Thee, God of our Fathers, we bless Thee;
Through life’s storm and tempest our guide hast Thou been.
When perils o’er-take us, Thou wilt not forsake us,
And with Thy help, O Lord, life’s battle’s we win."

3. "With voices united our praises we offer,
And gladly our songs of true worship we raise.
Thy strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,
To Thee, our great Redeemer, forever be praise."


The song was first sung that year on Thanksgiving Day at the Brick Presbyterian Church. A month later, the author’s father, J. Cleveland Cady, wished to use this hymn for a service on Dec. 25 at the Church of the Covenant, also in New York City, so Miss Cady added a fourth stanza.
4. "Thy love Thou didst show us, Thine only Son sending,
Who came as a babe and whose bed was a stall,
His blest life He gave us and then died to save us;
We praise Thee, O Lord, for Thy gift to us all."
William J. Reynolds notes that while this hymn was written as a substitute for "We Gather Together" it is not another translation or version of the original. "We Praise Thee, O God," with the first three stanzas only, is found in the 1986 Great Songs Revised edited by Forrest M. McCann and the 1992 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand. It was used in the original edition of Shepard and Stevens’ Hymns for Worship but omitted from the revised edition.

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volokh.com has quite a discussion, including these lyrics from the Saturday Night Live television program, sung by Sarah McLachlan:

Sarah McLachlan: Well, we were discussing the ritual torture and senseless slaughters of turkeys in the name of the gluttonous, nationalistic, patriarchal holiday that we call Thanksgiving.

Cinder Calhoun: [ increasingly emotional ] Right, and the sickest thing that Fiona told us is, apparently, that one company has a 1-800 number that gives out cooking tips and recipes encouraging the mutilation and consumption of these beautiful birds! [ gasps ]

Sarah McLachlan: [ comforting Cinder ] Will you be okay?

Cinder Calhoun: Yeah. So um, we wrote a song about it, um, for all the turkeys out there who celebrate Thanksgiving. [ Sarah and Cinder are handed acoustic guitars ] It's called "Basted in Blood." ...

Cinder & Sarah: [ playing guitars, singing ]
"We gather together for yams, beans, and cranberry sauce.
But have you given much thought lately to the Turkey Holocaust?
Twenty million noble birds slaughtered every fall.
Ain't no difference between Hitler, Stalin -- and the folks at Butterball!
Butterba-a-a-a-ll!!

[ Briefly cut wide to reveal Norm glancing around skeptically. ]

Cinder & Sarah: [ playing guitars, singing ]
So set your tables, America, from Birmingham to Branson.
But when you carve that turkey you're a finger-licking Charlie Manson.
Enjoy your pumpkin pie, your buttery Idaho spud.
Grandma's chestnut stuffing, and a turkey basted in blood...

Basted in blood! Basted in blood!
Basted in blood! Basted in blood!
Basted in blood! Basted in blood!
Basted in blood! Basted in blood!"

[ Huge cheers and applause. ]

Norm MacDonald: [ about to chew on a turkey leg ] Cinder Calhoun and Sarah MacLachlan -- [ puts away the turkey leg ] -- everybody! Thanks. Thanks, Cinder Calhoun and Sarah MacLachlan. ... [ to the crowd ] I wonder if Cinder is related to Haystack Calhoun? ... Okay, folks. That's it! Good night!

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/97/97gupdate.phtml