Count Your Blessings

Exodus 15:1
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song unto the Lord.

Psalm 18:1
I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

Do you remember what it was like to be in school and hear the teacher say, "Exams are coming up pretty soon?" You knew it was time to start reviewing and studying. You had studied all along, or at least I hope you had. But when he said it was time for the exam, it was time to stop and take a good, thorough review of everything that you had gone over. You had to try to remember everything, put it in its proper place, and know how to use it for your benefit.

You know the Bible is full of reviews, and sometimes I think God wants us to just stop and review. If we look back in the Old Testament, we find in Exodus 15 that Moses did a great job of reviewing. Just after God had brought Israel safely through the Red Sea and had destroyed their enemies behind them, Exodus 15:1 says, "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song unto the Lord."Then he starts into the song, and the whole song is a review of all the things that God had done for them: how He saved them, how He gave them mercy, how He stretched out His hand and destroyed their enemies, how they had gone through the wilderness, and how He had taken care of them.

Moses was not the only one who did a lot of reviewing. In the book of Psalms there are many passages that just retrace Israel's history and thank God for His blessings. I think particularly of Psalm 18, where David wrote, "I will love You, O Lord, my strength." He goes on to talk about why he loves God: God is his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer.

We can also look in the New Testament. In Hebrews chapter eleven there is a review not only of what God has done but of the faith of many people found in the Old Testament. It talks about faith as the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. The chapter continues then to speak of the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham.

It is good for us to review. Never, never get too busy that you forget what God has done for you! Take time to count your blessings. Like the old song says, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done." Take time to review and to count those blessings!

By Dr. Ann Shorb

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Related Articles and Devotionals:
The Beauty of Creation
Seeing God's Blessings
Finding Peace Through Christ's Death

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