“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.”
Chris Fenner writes: “Sometimes in the Christian faith, the simplest tenets are the most memorable and enduring. The hymn “Count Your Blessings” was first published in a collection called Songs for Young People (1897), published for the Methodist Book Concern (the publishing arm of the Methodist Episcopal Church), and edited by E.O. Excell, a prolific hymnal editor and compiler. True to its intent as a song for youth, its message is simple and clear: The best way to fight discouragement is to look for the blessings of life.
Little is known about the circumstances of the composition of this hymn, other than what is known about the authors. E.O. Excell (1851–1921), the composer, ran a publishing business based out of Chicago, with a specialty for Sunday School materials. In 1897, he was also working in conjunction with revivalist Sam P. Jones (1847–1906) and toured with him across the United States and elsewhere. Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856–1922), the lyricist, was an ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and at the time was in the mercantile business with his father in Lumberton, New Jersey, as Johnson Oatman & Son. Oatman had started writing songs in 1892.
Biographer J.H. Hall later reported: But it remained for Prof. E.O. Excell to bring out in 1897 what, in the opinion of most critics, is said to be Mr. Oatman’s masterpiece. “Count Your Blessings,” like “No, Not One,” has gone all over the world. Like a beam of sunlight it has brightened up the dark places of earth. Perhaps no American hymn was ever received with such enthusiasm in England as “Count Your Blessings.” A London daily, in giving an account of a meeting presided over by Gypsy Smith, said, “Mr. Smith announced a hymn. ‘Let us sing “Count Your Blessings.”’ Said he, ‘Down in South London the men sing it, the boys whistle it, and the women rock their babies to sleep to the tune.’” [J.H. Hall, “Johnson Oatman Jr.” Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914), p. 358.]"
"Growing up, Oatman realized that he would never be a great singer or preacher, but he eventually discovered his passion: hymn writing. He became a prolific writer and wrote over 5000 hymns throughout his lifetime. Most hymnals published today have at least one of his songs. Instead of being discouraged by his lack of musical oratory skills, Oatman found hope in his ability to write." "Perhaps the reason this song has been so universally included in hymnals is that it reminds discouraged Christians of the grace they have been given. It is often easy to take a negative view of life, but when we remember the things we have been given, we cannot deny that we are blessed."
That is also what the opening verses of Psalm 111 are designed to achieve (Psalm 111.1-5). They are headed up ‘Praise for God’s Wonderful Works’. The works of the Lord are great, full of honour and majesty, with his righteousness enduring forever. He is gracious and merciful, his deeds are wonderful as he provides food for those who fear him and is ever mindful of his covenant with us. As a result, we should study his works with delight and thanks and praise to Him with our whole hearts when we gather together, like this, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Psalm 111 essentially says study the wonderful works of God so you can count your blessings and give God the praise and thanks that are due to Him.
Our readings today give us more reasons to be thankful through the summary of our faith that St Paul shares with Timothy (1 Timothy 3.16). Paul says that “the mystery of our religion is great: He [Jesus] was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.” Paul shares the surprising revelation of Jesus as God in the world in order that Timothy and all those reading this letter give thanks to God for what we have received in and through Jesus. That is another way of or reason for counting our blessings.
By contrast, in our Gospel reading (Luke 7.31-35), Jesus speaks about people who complain whatever they receive. Jesus said that, of all those who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist, yet the people of which he speaks in today’s reading said he had a demon as he ate no bread and drank no wine. Of Jesus, God’s Son, their promised Messiah, they said he was “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” These were cynics who were so attuned to criticism of others that they could not recognise a blessing when two were standing right before their eyes.
We are called to be those who recognise and count their blessings, especially when we gather together for worship as we are doing today.
“When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.”
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Guy Penrod - Count Your Blessings.
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