Count Your Blessings

Psalms 103:2

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…”

King David was a pro at talking to himself, to build himself up when he was down. In this verse David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” In other words, “ok, self it’s time to stop ringing my hands together about things that I cannot change and start remembering what God has done in the past for me, so I can move forward.”

There is an old hymn that says, “Count your blessings name them one by one” (Count Your Blessings by Johnson Oatman, Jr.), but I think that it may not be possible to remember all the good that God has done for us. We tend to forget the good things and give more attention to the bad things that are going on in our lives. There is no condemnation of course, it’s just human nature. It’s kind of like the nightly news, they don’t spread word of the good stories, the bad news sells better, people will pay attention to the bad more than they will the good.

So, today, count your blessings, name them if you can. 

Seph Schlueter wrote a song that says in the chorus.

“God, I’m still counting my blessings,

All that You’ve done in my life,

The more that I look in the details,

The more of Your goodness I find.

Father on this side of Heaven,

I know that I’ll run out of time,

But I will keep counting my blessings,

Knowing I can’t count that high.” (Counting My Blessings)

Prayer:

Lord, help us to remember the good that You have done for us and our family. Teach us to remember the good that you have done and let those thoughts and memories build ourselves up. Even though the bad is ever present in this world, help us to know that You have overcome the world and all that is in it. You bring joy and peace in the midst of the storms of life. We trust in You Lord, Amen!