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This is the second of three posts featuring music with the theme of giving thanks.
Here's an alphabetical list of all "Notes of Glory" music with links so that you can revisit your favorite hymns/songs.
Complete "Notes of Glory" Song List
TO LISTEN TO MUSIC
Look for the SoundCloud audio player window found below the information provided for each song. Click on the white arrow in the orange circle.
IF YOU ARE LISTENING/VIEWING ON A MOBILE DEVICE OR TABLET
If given an option on your mobile device, click "LISTEN IN BROWSER" (rather than "Play on SoundCloud") on the audio player windows so that you stay on this page and can sing along using the printed lyrics.
PIANO PRELUDE
(to help you enter into a spirit of worship)
Thanks for the Blessings You Give
Piano solo by John Turner
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Count Your Blessings
Words by Johnson Oatman, Music by Edwin Othello Excell
Psalm 9:1-2
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 40:5
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
____________________
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, I will recount all your wonderful deeds." These words were written by the psalmist David thousands of years before American hymn writer Johnson Oatman (1856-1922) also wrote a song describing the uplifting practice of taking the time to enumerate God's many faithful acts. "Count Your Blessings" reminds us to bring our cares, worries, and concerns to God who has proven his lovingkindness toward us over and over.
Johnson Oatman was an ordained Methodist minister who also worked in the mercantile business with his father in New Jersey. He had a deep passion for ministry but discovered in his mid-30s that he his giftedness lay more in the area of songwriting rather than preaching, and wrote 5,000 hymns over the course of his lifetime, including "No, Not One" and "Higher Ground" (featured here on July 19). "Count Your Blessings" first appeared in the 1897 publication Songs for Young People and quickly became popular both in America and abroad, particularly in England, where British evangelist Gipsy Smith noted, "men sing it, boys whistle it and women rock their babies to sleep to it." The melody for "Count Your Blessings" was composed by publisher and "singing evanglist" Edwin Othello Excell (1851-1921) who played a significant role in American hymnody of the late 19th and early 20th century, arranging and composing melodies for many well-known hymns as well as contributing to or editing some 90 hymnals and song books.
If this hymn is new to you, here's a fantastic recording from the International Songsters of the Salvation Army that you will really enjoy!
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]
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. [Refrain]
Give Thanks
Words and music by Henry Smith
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
_____________________
As a young seminary graduate in 1978, Henry Smith, Jr. (b. 1952) was struggling: he was looking for work while also suffering from a degenerative eye condition, which made jobs hard to come by. During that period, the pastor of the church Smith attended shared 2 Corinthians 8:9 with him: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." The verse took root in Smith's soul, and he crafted the song "Give Thanks" as a result.
Smith began to perform the song in local churches, and "Give Thanks" became increasingly popular during the early 1980s, with "author unknown" often listed on the credits. It was eventually published by Hosanna! Music and was first recorded by Christian singer Don Moen. Today, credit for the song's lyrics and music are often incorrectly attributed to Moen or others, but it was Henry Smith who created the song in a spirit of thanksgiving during a challenging season of his life.
Here's the original Don Moen 1986 recording of Smith's" Give Thanks," if you'd like to hear a version with singing and instruments.
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| CCLI Song #20285 © 1978 Integrity's Hosanna! Music For use solely with the SongSelect®. Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 419384 |
Verse
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ His Son
Chorus
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Ending
Give thanks
CCLI Song # 20285
Henry Smith
© 1978 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook))
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 419384
Let All Things Now Living
Words by Katherine Kennicot Davis, "Ash Grove" hymn tune
Psalm 95:1-3
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
____________________
Most often in the history of hymnody, words (poems) come first, then music. In the case of the beloved Thanksgiving hymn "Let All Things Now Living," the text was composed specifically to fit a well-known Welsh folk melody ("Ash Grove"). Katherine Kennicott Davis (1892-1980) was an American pianist, composer, and educator who had studied music in Paris under Nadia Boulanger and attended Wellesley College as well as the New England Conservatory of Music. She taught music at Wellesley as well as several other schools and composed over 600 musical works for the choirs at these schools. In 1939, using the psudonymn "John Cowley," Davis wrote the lyrics of "Let All Things Living" to match "Ash Grove," the traditional Welsh tune which first appeared in print in 1802. The text echoes Psalm 150, calling all creatures to praise their Creator, and also references God's provision in Exodus 13:21, "and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and night."
If this hymn is new to you, here's a video recording with congregation and instruments of "Let All Things Now Living" from St. German's Church in Cardiff, Wales (a special location since the tune for this hymn originated in Wales). Here's another version for choral ensemble and instruments from Lifeway Worship.
Here's the tune! And the lyrics are listed below the SoundCloud window which features the piano accompaniment so that you can sing along. Because the words are still under copyright but the tune is in public domain, I wasn't able to share both at the same time, but you will most likely recognize the "Ash Grove" melody as it's very well-known.
Let all things now living
A song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator
Triumphantly raise
Who fashioned and made us
Protected and stayed us
Who still guides us on
To the end of our days
God's banners are o'er us
His light goes before us
A pillar of fire
Shining forth in the night
Till shadows have vanished
And darkness is banished
As forward we travel
From light into light
His law He enforces
The stars in their courses
The sun in His orbit obediently shine
The hills and the mountains
The rivers and fountains
The deeps of the ocean
Proclaim Him divine
We too should be voicing
Our love and rejoicing
With glad adoration
A song let us raise
Till all things now living
Unite in thanksgiving
To God in the highest
Hosanna and praise
CCLI Song # 4445649
Katherine Kennicott Davis
© 1939. Renewed 1966 E.C. Schirmer Music Company (Admin. by ECS Publishing Corporation)
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 419384
POSTLUDE
(to help send you forth with joy!)
Grateful
Piano Solo by Mark Hayes
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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