Ten.. nine.. it's getting closer.. seven.. six.. five.. it's almost here.. four .. wow.. three.. two.. you can feel the tension.. one – surprise. Tell the truth – you were a bit anxious. That's the way it is in our world – the countdown creates tension and drama, it creates a desire to reach the end and the sensation that with every moment which goes by I am getting closer to the climax. The psychology behind this doesn't matter so much because we see that this is the way it works in reality. According to this, it could appear that our holy Torah didn't learn enough psychology.  
 

We are in the midst of Sefirat HaOmer, which leads up to Matan Torah. The entire essence of this counting which we enumerate is the creation of anticipation and longing for the day of Kabbalat HaTorah, as Sefer HaChinuch writes regarding this Mitzvah:
 

A root of this Mitzvah, according to the p'shat (simple meaning) is that the entire essence of Israel is only the Torah… and it is the reason that we were redeemed and taken out of Egypt… and therefore… we were commanded to count from the day after the Yom Tov of Pesach to the day of the giving of the Torah, in order that we ourselves will demonstrate our great desire for this glorious day which our heart longs for, just as a slave looks for shade, and always counts towards the moment he longs for, that he will go free, as the counting shows the man that his salvation and all his desire is to reach that time."

And therefore, should we have been required to enumerate in a way which generates anticipation, as people commonly count? In the army, soldiers always ask "how much more?" or "until when?" They don't ask "since when?" And the Chinuch itself noted this question and wrote: "And (why is it) that we enumerate the Omer: 'such and such days have passed' and not 'such and such days are left?'" (And there is another point here: besides the tension-building countdown, there is the subject of the counting. The Chinuch says that every day we should have been mentioning the end purpose – the Festival of Matan Torah, and not the starting point – the Omer offering).

The Chinuch's answer will be understood by anyone who just now began his military service. Ask him how much time he has left and he will say that he isn't counting, and that something like that could make him depressed (except for a few enthusiasts/tzaddikim, to whom this example does not apply). This is equally relevant to one who feels that life without purpose is worthless, and longs for the time of Kabbalat HaTorah, and in the meantime his life is devoid and 49 days seem like an eternity to him, and this could certainly break his spirit. Says the Chinuch: it is preferable not to mention how many days are left, but rather the progress being made every day. Still we can ask, if we want the effect upon our hearts to be complete, then shouldn't we combine the two approaches: to start counting in ascending order, and towards the end to start a countdown? The Chinuch says that we do not do this "because we must not change the phrasing in the middle (of the counting)" – a technical reason. [Incidentally, from this we learn that it is preferable to sacrifice the elevation of spirits which results from creating the anticipation for the Festival of Shavuot, and not to cause other people heartbreak. This principle appears simple, but it is important to emphasize it.]

There is another possible explanation, according to the p'shat (in spite if the fact that the Chinuch also claims to explain according to the p'shat). The Torah doesn't mention at all Chag Matan Torah, it only mentions Chag HaShavuot, so it is difficult to stimulate a longing for something which is not mentioned. The simple understanding of the purpose of Sefirat HaOmer is that we will know when to observe Chag HaShavuot. In the days when the New Month was determined by the sighting of the moon, Shavuot did not necessarily fall on the 6^th of Sivan – it depended whether the months of Iyar and Sivan were 29 or 30 days. And in order that everyone will know when Shavuot is, we were commanded to count for this reason. According to this, counting in reverse is irrelevant - first, if the purpose is that we will know when the Festival is, we must enumerate in a simple way so that we will not be confused. In addition, since generating anticipation is not the goal, there is no reason to do a countdown.
 

We can add an additional reason according to the Malbim. The Malbim writes that there are four words which express counting: safar, manah, pakad and nasa. And of course, according to his approach, every word has a different connotation. Safar – the definition is "the act of counting itself – counting one, two three… in which one counts objects or days one by one in an orderly enumeration." Manah – "Something which one knows how many there are, and he counts them to check that nothing is missing." Pakad – "arriving at the total number" – what is important is the outcome. Nasa – "an enumeration which has prestige and importance." We see that sefirah is special in that it emphasizes every item or day which is counted, and not only the final result – every day has its own importance. HaRav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch writes that this is also the meaning of the word sippur (story). Nobody would want to read a story which only says: "and they lived happily ever after." This is boring, and without all the action beforehand, the happy ending is of no interest. The substance of a story is that it contains a plot, which is the composite of many details, not just a conclusion. In essence, a story is the combination of many components.
 

Now it is clear what the Torah wanted to bestow upon us with a progressive enumeration - there is a deep message here which we must understand. We could have thought that the entire process, from receiving physical independence through receiving the Torah is superfluous, and the important thing is for us to be in a state of receiving the Torah. The Torah comes to teach us that this is certainly not the case, and that the main purpose of the world is man's efforts to achieve perfection, as the Maharal said: "perfection is the process of perfecting." Consequently, what is most important is the progress of the individual and the nation towards Matan Torah. We certainly do not trivialize the result, but we are here in this world for the work which is in the interim. These are the critical days - we were created for them, to build ourselves up to be worthy of the Torah.