COUNT YOUR MANY BLESSINGS

Has this been a difficult week for you? Are you discouraged? Do you seem to be overloaded with problems? Are you facing financial needs? Does life seem to overwhelm you with constant conflicts? Then this week's choice might be what you need. Sometimes we get so down that we forget all that we do have. and we forget to thank the one who has blessed us. Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr. was one of the important and prolific gospel song writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a child, Oatman Junior became acquainted with the hymns of the church through the singing talents of his father. At 19 he joined the Methodist Church and years later was granted a license to preach in local Methodist congregations. His mainstream career was in a mercantile business and later as administrator for a large insurance company in New Jersey. At the same time, he wrote over 5,000 hymn texts. "Count your Blessings" is generally considered to be Oatman's finest hymn. It first appeared in 1897 and it has been sung all over the world. One writer has stated, "Like a beam of sunlight it has brightened up the dark places of the earth." It was received most overwhelmingly in Great Britain. The London Daily, in giving an account of a meeting presided over by Gypsy Smith, reported, "Mr. Smith announced the hymn 'Count Your Blessings.' He said, "In South London the men sing it, the boys whistle it, and the women rock their babies to sleep on this hymn." During the revival in Wales it was one of the hymns sung at every service. So maybe this week, like those over a century ago, we need to be reminded to daily thank God for the many blessings that we have. It certainly is more profitable than counting sheep when sleep just doesn't seem to come.

(1) When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

(2) Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,

And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

(3) When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings—wealth can never buy

Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

(4) So, amid the conflict whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all;

Count your many blessings, angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

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