Classic Christian Hymns · Public-domain text

Count Your Blessings

Johnson Oatman Jr.

An American businessman, administrator, and ordained Methodist minister (1856–1922). While working full-time in his father's mercantile business and running an insurance agency, Oatman discovered his true calling lay in writing hymns. He wrote over 5,000 gospel songs in his spare time. In 1897, during a time of national economic difficulty, he wrote 'Count Your Blessings' to encourage people to look past their worries and find joy in the daily, often overlooked gifts of God.

Source: Classic public-domain hymn

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 has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

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 has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

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 blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

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 has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.