Count Your Blessings

The Apostle Paul instructed the believers at Colosse to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That is what I hope to do by explaining the meaning of this hymn, against the backdrop of the Framework of Sovereign Grace.

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[An automated transcript of the teaching video]

The Apostle Paul instructed the believers at Colosss to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. That’s what I hope to do by explaining the meaning of this hymn—Count Your Blessings. I’d like to explain the meaning against the backdrop of the Framework of Sovereign Grace. This is the master plan of God for the ages.

You’ll notice the hymn was written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. He was an ordained preacher by the Methodist Episcopal Church, but he’s best known for the thousands of hymns he wrote. Now, I seriously doubt he nurtured high views of sovereign grace. However, this particular hymn—the words of the hymn—may be interpreted from that point of view and therefore I’ll be explaining it according to sovereign grace. 

The hymn has for stanzas with a chorus or a refrain. Allow me to read for you those stanzas.

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. 

2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

3 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.

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.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The hymn is designed, obviously, to encourage the believer in Christ who may be overwhelmed by the burdens and tribulations of his or her daily pilgrimage. There are so many things, my dear friend, to depress the spirit and discourage the heart. Yet Oatman would have you and I consider the vast blessings bestowed by the Lord, which far outweigh our burdens and hardships.

We’re therefore looking at the third branch of the gospel. Remember, there’s three branches to the gospel—the electing love of the Father, the redeeming grace of the Son and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. The sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit begins when the Spirit of God conquers the heart of the sinner, uniting the soul of that sinner with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God communicates the life and graces of Christ to the soul, making the soul alive unto God through Christ and enabling the soul to exercise the fruit of the new nature, among which is saving faith. That’s the beginning of the Christian life. That’s the beginning of our pilgrimage with the Lord in this world. And it’s during that pilgrimage that we will face hardships and burdens and disappointments and discouragements. And Oatman is simply saying, in this hymn, that we should be counting our blessings from the Lord every day and you’ll find the blessings far outweigh our burdens. With that said, here are the stanzas of the hymn.

Stanza 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.”

Now, you can refer to your own experiences and you know quite well the types of disappointments and setbacks and failures and burdens that you’ve encountered. Well, listen, count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Get specific, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. The blessings, first, are spiritual—all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, innumerable. And there’s nuances of every spiritual blessing. I mean, you can spend a lifetime attempting to analyze and assess all of the spiritual blessings that have been procured for us in Christ and communicated to us by the spirit of God. But it’s not just spiritual blessings. There’s domestic blessings. Think of your family, even if you’re single. You have parents; you have siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, so forth. You have friends. You have a church. Think also in terms of money. You might not be the wealthiest person in the world, but I guarantee you’re not the poorest. And from that perspective, my dear friend, you have many financial blessings, many comforts, many enjoyments on this earth. Think also of your good health. You might not have the best health in the world, but it’s not the worst. Oh, how we undervalue health. And yet God, if he has sustained your physical health, your wellbeing, that is a great blessing. There are so many things that God has given to you they far outweigh whatever burdens and disappointments you’re currently encountering.

Stanza 2

“Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.”

Stanza 3

“When you look at others with their lands and gold,”

Never a wise thing to do, my friend, to compare yourself to others. Never a wise thing to do. But when you do look at others with their lands and gold—maybe you’re single and you see others prospering with a husband or a wife; or maybe you’re married and you see others prospering with sons and daughters, but you have none; or maybe you don’t have a job, but you look at others that are climbing the corporate ladder and making it well in this world. When you look at others with all they have, compared to what you don’t, then listen, 

“Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings, money cannot buy,”

Nor can a husband, or a wife, or a son, or a daughter, or a mother, or a father. For instance, 

“Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.”

Stanza 4

“So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all;”

Specifically over you and your entire life.

“Count your many blessings, angels will attend,”

Meaning, they’ll be singing those praises and glories to God for His governance of your life and the blessings bestowed. And, if it pleases God, he will send some of those angels as messengers to assist, and—

“Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.”

Therefore,

Refrain

“Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Why don’t you join me in singing this hymn now, after which take five minutes, and on a piece of paper, why don’t you write down some of the major burdens you’re currently carrying; and on the other side of the page, write down the many blessings God is bestowing upon you, and see which is the longer list.

My dear friend, I pray God will encourage both you and me in our pilgrimage with Him!

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