COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
Opening Prayer
Lord, we revel in all of Your blessings upon us.
Read PSALM 105
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
12 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
16 He called down famine on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased
and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel entered Egypt;
Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark—
for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,
causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs,
which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,
with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord.[a]
Footnotes
- Psalm 105:45 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done’ (Johnson Oatman, ‘When upon life’s billows’, 1897).
Think Further
This psalm focuses on God and celebrates His goodness throughout the history of the nation of Israel, from Abraham to Joseph, from slavery in Egypt to the Exodus and from the wandering years in the wilderness to the entry into the Promised Land. It paints one picture: despite Israel’s constant disobedience and continuous rebellion, God remains faithful and keeps His promises, always mindful of the needs of His people, providing for them, protecting them, and redeeming them from their enemies.
The psalm also exhorts us to respond to God by recounting His faithful deeds. The beginning verses give us some pointers. The psalmist invites us to use our tongues to give thanks and to sing praises to Him (1,2). We are also to seek Him with our heart (3). We are also to remember His great deeds with our mind, lest we forget (5). And there is more. The ending of the psalm reminds us that we are to keep His commandments and obey His Law (45).
At times, it is easy for us to say, ‘Praise the Lord’ for every good deed we experience in our life. Far more difficult is it for us to obey the Lord and the teaching in His Word through the way we live. Psalm 105 reminds us that God has done so much for us, if we count our blessings. In response to His mercy and grace, let us resolve to keep His commandments and obey His Law. Remember, all our praises to Him will be mere religious noise if we do not obey God and live our lives as His people.
Apply
Count your blessings, give thanks, and ask for courage to live your life as His disciple. Think of one area in your life that you know you must change.
Closing prayer
Lord, we Your people count it a privilege to sing praises to Your name and recount all that You have done for us.
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