Count Your Blessings – Psalm 103

Count Your Blessings (Worship with Gratitude Week 1)

“My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.

He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.

He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.

He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalm 103:1-5

A Musical Family

Something you may not know about me that I grew up in a family of singers. I don’t just mean my immediate family either! We had annual family reunions with my extended family. The two main activities were eating and singing.

We would all gather around a piano with a stack of hymnals and sing our hearts out. This week’s song about centered on gratitude is one I remember singing every single time.

Count Your Blessings

I can’t remember whose favorite it was, but they must have been important because we would literally always sing it. It is called “Count Your Blessings.”

Song: Count Your Blessings

Verse 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.

Chorus: Count your many blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done, Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Verse 2: 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.

Verse 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.

Verse 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.

One of the things I love about this song is that it is so easy to relate to.

Feel like you are going under?

How many of you feel like you have been in a season of life where you are in the middle of a storm? Tossed by the waves of life and sinking under the weight of those waves?
Verse 1 is for you!

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.

This reminds me of the story in Matthew 8:

“As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” Matthew 8:23-26

When we feel like our ship is going down, recounting to ourselves WHO Jesus is and WHAT He has done for us reminds us that He is more powerful than the storm in our lives.

Too Long To-Do List?

Is your to-do list way to long? Are there too many things or people for which you are caring right now? Does life just feel like “too much?” Verse 2 is for you!

“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.”

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7

When we feel loaded down, we have to remember that we are not meant to carry all the weight of life. God is waiting for us to give it to Him. Sometimes, in order to do that, we have to rehearse to ourselves how BIG God is and all that He has already done for us.

Reminding ourselves of God’s ability to carry us an d all of our burdens enables us to cast our cares on Him.

Does it seem like everyone else has a better life than yours?

Are your Facebook friends posting their new houses, cars, or other belongings? Do your coworkers or friends seem to have it all together? Do you wish for a life you don’t have? Verse 3 is for you!

“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.”

With the advent of social media, depression from comparison skyrocketed. We have to be diligent with our thought lives. For the most part, people only post the good stuff. Their carefully curated online presence or forced smiles at church on Sunday morning are not an accurate representation of how life is on the daily.

Counting our blessings and pulling our minds back to what God has done for us helps us to avoid falling into the trap of comparison depression.

Wherever you are, count your blessings

No matter where we are in life, when you count your blessings, your mind will come back into alignment with God’s Word. Joy will come flooding in! Even the darkest times are made lighter with a rehearsal of what God has already done. What He has done before, He will do again!

Action Step:

“Count your many blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done, Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.”

Our action step for this week (and the whole month of November if you are up for it) is to write down one blessing each day.

I do this in a planner, but if you need a printable on which to count your blessings, I have a couple of Count Your Blessings Calendars in my resource library for free!

There are also LOTs of  free printables for you to use in this challenge if you wish! They are available in the Devotion in Action Free Resource Library! (If you have not gotten the password to the Resource Library, click here!)

As we write down our blessings, we will thank God for all He has done and renew our minds.

Like the Psalmist, we speak to our souls and remind them to bless the Lord by rehearsing our blessings which come from Him.

“My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.

He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.

He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.

He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalm 103:1-5

Prayer:

Dear God, Help us to remind ourselves of all your blessings in our lives. Lift our spirits as we encourage ourselves in YOU! In Jesus’ name, amen.

For the November Worship with Gratitude Series page, CLICK HERE!