May 7, 2016 (Saturday)
Gipsy Smith, a famous evangelist of yesteryear, said of this song, “Men sing it, boys whistle it and women rock their babies to sleep to it.”
Johnson Oatman was raised in Lumberton, New Jersey, the son of a successful businessman who loved to sing. The boy would stand on the pew and look at the hymnal as he and his father sang with the congregation at church services. He grew up loving music and wanting to write hymns. He eventually wrote 5,000 of them. His personal favorites were “No, Not One” and “Higher Ground.” But the people preferred “Count Your Blessings” and it became one of the most popular hymns ever known.
Oatman died 94 years ago, but his hymns live on.
LISTEN
(Listen again and watch something different)