Count Your Blessings

Praise the LORD, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name! … who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your desire with good things.

David begins this psalm by preaching to his own soul. He is not instructing a congregation — he is commanding his own heart to remember. Praise the LORD, my soul! As if he knows that left to itself, his soul will forget. It will focus on the burdens, the struggles, the unanswered questions. So he deliberately calls himself to count.

And what a list he makes. Forgiveness. Healing. Redemption. Lovingkindness. Satisfaction. Five blessings that cover the whole arc of God’s work in a life — from the moment we are forgiven to the moment we are satisfied in Him.

Counting your blessings is not a naive exercise in positive thinking. It is a spiritual discipline that trains your heart to see what God has done rather than what you still lack. When you intentionally name the ways God has been good to you, your perspective shifts. The mountain of worry becomes a manageable hill. The overwhelming becomes bearable.

This is especially powerful when you write them down. There is something about putting gratitude on paper that anchors it in your heart. The blessings you recorded last month become evidence when this month feels dark. You can look back and say, “God was faithful then. He will be faithful now.”

Try it today. Take a few moments and write down five specific things God has done for you. They do not have to be dramatic — a meal provided, a conversation that encouraged you, a Scripture that came to mind when you needed it. The act of writing them down trains your brain to look for God’s goodness rather than dwelling on what is missing.

David knew what we often forget: gratitude is not a feeling that comes to us. It is a discipline we must practice. It is preaching to our own souls until our hearts catch up with what our mouths are saying.

Prayer

Lord, I pause today to count my blessings. Thank You for forgiving my sins, for healing my wounds, for redeeming my life from despair. Thank You for crowning me with lovingkindness and satisfying my soul with good things. Help me to remember Your faithfulness, especially when my heart is prone to forget. I bless Your holy name. Amen.

Encouragement

Gratitude is not the absence of hardship — it is the discipline of remembering God’s goodness in the middle of it. Take a moment today to count.