As this blog will post a week before Thanksgiving (and may be my last until December), I thought I’d write on Psalm 103 (posted below in case your Bible isn’t handy).  The whole time I was thinking about it a hymn from childhood kept going through my head.  I hope this gets it running through yours!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS   

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.

Refrain:
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?

2.  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. [Refrain]

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. [Refrain]

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]

Baptist Hymnal, 1991*

Trusting you have at least one more blessing than challenge to count!

Pastor Scott

Psalm 103

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.   A Psalm of David. 

1  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;

3  Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;

4  Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5  Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

6  The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.

7  He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.

8  The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

9  He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

12  As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13  Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

14  For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

15  As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16  When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.

17  But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,

18  To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.

19  The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!

21  Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.

22  Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

*The song was published in 1897; 1991 was the pub. Date of the Baptist Hymnal I found online.