Count Your Blessings
I was raised in a hymn-singing church. My earliest childhood memories are the words and melodies of the anthems sung on Sunday mornings and evenings. One old hymn that sticks to my heart like a Velcro fastener is titled Count Your Blessings.
This hymn talks about the many trials that we as Christians face in this life, it also challenges us, in the midst of trials, to stop and count our blessings. In my mind’s eye, I see a yellow legal pad before me and a pencil in my hand. Starting at the top of the page, I begin to write down the blessings that the Lord has poured out upon me. I am led in this exercise by the chorus of the song:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Let me share with you the story of a man who, in the midst of suffering and trials, found the ability to write a wonderful song of thanksgiving and praise—thanksgiving and praise for God’s blessing on his life.
One of the most destructive conflicts in European history was the Thirty Years’ War, fought between 1618 and 1648. By 1637 all of the pastors of Eilenberg, Germany, had either abandoned the city or died of disease, leaving a Lutheran deacon named Martin Rinkart to care for the spiritual needs of the city. In the ensuing years, he performed 4,480 funerals, including the funeral of his own wife. In 1637 alone, 5,000 people died of starvation and disease in Eilenberg, at which time Rinkart was officiating over 40–50 funerals a day.
Rinkart was a prolific writer of poems and hymns. In the midst of this great privation and suffering, he wrote a hymn that reveals the faith of this man of God and his ability to count his blessings, whether on the mountaintop or in the deepest valleys.
Now Thank We All Our God
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices,
Who from our mother’s arms hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us,
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills in this world and the next.
and thanks to God, the Father now be given,
The Son and Holy Ghost, with Him in highest heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
I don’t know what kind of trials you are facing today, but in the words of Contemporary Christian Music artist Evie Tornquist:
“Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
And He will turn your sorrows into joy.”
In keeping with this theme, I close with a verse from Count Your Blessings:
“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.”
數算主恩
我是在一間唱聖詩的教會中長大的。童年最早的記憶，就是主日早晚崇拜中所唱的聖詩旋律與歌詞。有一首古老的聖詩，如魔鬼氈般牢牢地貼在我的心裡，歌名是《數算主恩》（Count Your Blessings）。
這首詩歌談到基督徒在今生所面對的種種試煉，同時也提醒我們：即使身處患難之中，也要停下來數算神所賜的恩典。在我的腦海裡，我彷彿看見面前放著一本黃色便條簿，手中拿著一支鉛筆。我從紙張頂端開始，一一寫下主傾倒在我生命中的恩福。而引導我這樣做的，正是副歌中的歌詞：
主的恩典，樣樣都要數， 主的作為都要記清楚， 主的恩典，樣樣都要數， 必能叫你驚訝主奇妙看顧。
讓我與你分享一位弟兄的故事。他在痛苦與試煉之中，仍能寫下一首充滿感恩與讚美的詩歌——為著神在他生命中的恩典獻上感謝與讚美。
歐洲歷史上最具破壞性的戰爭之一，是1618年至1648年的「三十年戰爭」。到了1637年，德國艾倫堡（Eilenberg）所有的牧師不是離開了城市，就是死於疾病，只剩下一位路德宗執事——馬丁．林卡特（Martin Rinkart）繼續照顧全城居民的屬靈需要。在接下來的幾年裡，他主持了4,480場喪禮，其中也包括他自己妻子的葬禮。單單1637年一年，艾倫堡就有5,000人死於飢荒和疾病，而那段期間，林卡特每天要主持40到50場葬禮。
林卡特是一位多產的詩人與聖詩作者。在如此巨大的困苦與患難中，他仍寫下一首詩歌。展現了這位上帝僕人的信仰，以及他無論是身處高山還是低谷，都能數算主恩的能力。
《齊來謝主》
今齊來感謝神，以心、以手、以歌聲，
祂行奇妙大事，普世歡頌主聖名，
從我母懷開始，祂賜福佑至今，
享受無窮慈愛，蒙主眷顧護蔭。
但願恩慈上主，伴我走人生路程，
常賜快樂平安，鼓勵安慰我心靈，
導我脫離疑惑，救我避免病災，
無論今生來世，永享主恩慈愛。
我將頌揚感謝，敬獻父、子與聖靈，
三位本同一體，在天執掌大權柄，
獨一永生上主，天地一同敬拜，
昔在今在永在，直到千秋萬代。
我不知道你今天正面對怎樣的試煉，但借用當代基督教音樂歌手伊薇．托恩奎斯特（Evie Tornquist）的歌詞：
「把一切都交給耶穌，交給耶穌，交給耶穌；
破碎的夢想、受傷的心靈、破舊的玩具。
把一切都交給耶穌，交給耶穌，交給耶穌；
祂必將你的憂傷化為喜樂。」
帶著這樣的信息，我以《數算主恩》中的一節歌詞作結：
「每逢遭遇靈戰不論小或大，主手統治一切你不要懼怕，
深知主有恩典必甘願扶助，安慰引導我們直到見天父。」
Count Your Blessings, Johnson Oatman Jr., 1879
Now Thank We All Our God, Martin Rinkart
Give Them All to Jesus, Evie Tornquist, 1980