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"Count Your Blessings" is considered to be the best of all the hymns Johnson Oatman, Jr., wrote. It was first published in 1897. It is based on Ephesians 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
The London Daily, in giving an account of a meeting presided over by Gypsy Smith, reported, "Mr. Smith announced the hymn `Count Your Blessings.' Said he, ‘In South London the men sing it, the boys whistle it, and the women rock their babies to sleep on this hymn.'"
"Count Your Blessings" is a song much used during aftermath of the disaster at the World Trade Center.
| When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, Are you ever burdened with a load of care? When you look at others with their lands and gold, So amid the conflict, whether great or small, |
Sources
K.W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1982). Page 55.
Oatman Family Links for November, 2001 found at: http://home.rochester.rr.com/woatman/links/Issue11.htm
K.W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990). Page 350.
