Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3
Author—Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1856–1922
This hymn certainly ranks as one of
the most familiar numbers in our hymnals. It is one of the songs that many of
us first sang with gusto during our early Sunday School days, yet one that we
still enjoy singing in our gospel type of services.
Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr., was one of
the important and prolific gospel song writers of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. He was born near Medford, New Jersey, on April 21, 1856.
As a child he became acquainted with the hymns of the church through the
singing talents of his father.
At the age of nineteen Oatman joined
the Methodist Church and several years later was granted a license to preach in
local Methodist congregations. Though he wrote over 5,000 hymn texts, Oatman
was busily engaged throughout his life in a mercantile business and later as an
administrator for a large insurance company in New Jersey. Other gospel
favorites by Johnson Oatman include “Higher Ground” (101 More Hymn Stories, No.
35), and “No, Not One!”
“Count Your Blessings” is generally
considered to be Oatman’s finest hymn. It first appeared in Songs for Young
People, compiled and published by Edwin O. Excell in 1897. It has been sung all
over the world. One writer has stated, “Like a beam of sunlight it has
brightened up the dark places of the earth.”
Perhaps no American hymn was ever
received with such enthusiasm in Great Britain as this hymn. 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.’ ” During the great revival in Wales it was one of the hymns
sung at every service along with such Welsh favorites as “Guide Me, O Thou
Great Jehovah” (No. 26) and “O That Will be Glory” (No. 70).
The composer of the music, E. O.
Excell, is a well-known name in early gospel hymnody. He was born in Stark
County, Ohio, on December 13, 1851. At the age of twenty he became a singing
teacher, traveling around the country establishing singing schools. For twenty
years he was associated with Sam Jones, a well-known Southern revivalist.
Excell was recognized as one of the finest song leaders of his day. In addition
to writing and composing more than 2,000 gospel songs as well as publishing
about fifty songbooks, he administered a successful music publishing business
in Chicago. While assisting Gypsy Smith in an evangelistic campaign in
Louisville, Kentucky, in 1921, he was suddenly stricken at the age of seventy
and taken home to join the immortal heavenly chorus.
