Count Your Blessings Johnson Oatman Jr., 1897
4 verses and a refrain, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
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.
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;
And it will surprise you what the Lord 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; wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
Verse 4. So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from Sacred Songs and Solos: Twelve Hundred Hymns (1921). They were published in 1897, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Count Your Blessings
Johnson Oatman Jr. wrote the words and Edwin O. Excell wrote the tune. Excell included the hymn in Songs for Young People in 1897. Hymnary names the publisher as Curts and Jennings of Chicago, and the Hymnology Archive names the Methodist Book Concern of New York, so the two sources disagree on that detail. Both give the year 1897.
Oatman was a Methodist Episcopal local preacher from New Jersey who also worked in his father's store in Lumberton. Hymnary says he wrote more than 5,000 hymns. Excell was a Chicago publisher and song leader. He led the singing for evangelist Sam Jones for about twenty years, and he was working with Jones in 1897. His tune is called BLESSINGS. Hymnary lists it in E flat major and D major, with a few books in D flat major.
A biographer, J. H. Hall, wrote in 1914 that English audiences received the hymn with unusual enthusiasm. The Hymnology Archive says little is known about how the hymn came together.
Hymnals differ on Oatman's dates. Most give 1856 to 1922. One gives 1856 to 1904, and another gives 1865 to 1922.
Johnson Oatman Jr.
1856-04-21 to 1922
Johnson Oatman Jr. was born on April 21, 1856, near Medford, New Jersey. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at nineteen, was licensed to preach and was later ordained by Bishop Merrill. He served as a local preacher and worked with his father in a mercantile business in Lumberton. Hymnary says he wrote more than 5,000 hymns, among them Count Your Blessings and No, Not One. Most hymnals give his death year as 1922. One gives 1904 and another gives 1926, so the sources disagree.
Edwin O. Excell
1851 to 1921
Edwin Othello Excell (1851 to 1921) was born in Uniontown, Ohio. He worked first as a bricklayer and plasterer and then studied music in Chicago under George Root. He became a publisher, composer, song leader and singer of gospel music for churches, Sunday schools and evangelistic meetings, and he founded a music publishing house in Chicago. He led the singing for evangelist Sam Jones for about twenty years. Hymnary credits him with more than 2,000 gospel songs, including the tune BLESSINGS for Count Your Blessings in 1897.
- Hymnary.org: Count Your Blessings (text) , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive: Count your blessings , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: BLESSINGS (Excell) , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Count Your Blessings
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Psalm 103:2
- Psalm 107:31
- Ephesians 1:3
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Count Your Blessings videos
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Count Your Blessings • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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Count Your Blessings | April 2024 General Conference General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ, Choir
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Count Your Blessings - A Cappella Arrangement Dan Sings Hymns, A cappella
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Count Your Blessings - piano instrumental hymn Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Guy Penrod - Count Your Blessings (Live) Gaither Music TV, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Print and project
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in E♭ or D.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Count Your Blessings?
Johnson Oatman Jr. wrote the words and Edwin Excell wrote the tune. Excell published it in Songs for Young People in 1897.
What is the story behind Count Your Blessings?
The Hymnology Archive says little is known about how it was composed. It does report that Excell was touring with evangelist Sam Jones in 1897.
Is Count Your Blessings a hymn?
Yes. It is a gospel hymn, and Hymnary lists it in 334 hymnals. Its refrain gives the hymn its title.
Is Count Your Blessings in the public domain?
Yes. The words are public domain in the United States, first published in 1897. The tune BLESSINGS also dates to 1897.
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