It’s Saturday! Let’s put a song 🎶 in our hearts 💕 for the Lord!
🎶 Great Is Thy Faithfulness 🎶
Author: Thomas O. Chisholm Thomas (1866-1960)
One of the greatest blessings of following Christ is His peace in the midst of trials. Great Is Thy Faithfulness, written by a man who endured lifelong struggles, reminds us that God’s unchanging love and promises never fail.
Scripture:
Lamentations 3:22-23 – It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
History:
Thomas Chilsom was born in 1866 in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky. He was the son of James Washington and Lucy Jane Mequire Chisholm. Though his family was very poor and he received only a basic elementary education in a rural schoolhouse, by the age of sixteen he was already serving as a teacher.
At twenty-one, just five years later, Chisholm became the associate editor of his hometown paper, The Franklin Advocate. In 1893, during a revival in Franklin led by Henry Clay Morrison—the founder of Asbury College and Seminary—Chisholm attended and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.
In 1903, Thomas married the love of his life, Catherine Vandervere, and began his family. He was also ordained as a Methodist minister. He believed his future was set in ministry, serving as a pastor for the rest of his life. Yet the years ahead unfolded differently.
By 1909, declining health forced him to step away from his congregation, and mounting hospital bills soon brought financial strain. While many might have grown bitter toward God in such hardship, Thomas responded in the opposite spirit—choosing trust and faithfulness instead.
Chisholm had sent several of his poems to Rev. William H. Runyan (1870–1957), a musician at Moody Bible Institute and editor at Hope Publishing Company in Chicago. Reflecting on one hymn, Runyan wrote:
“This particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed earnestly my tune might convey its message in a worthy way. The subsequent history of its use shows that God answered that prayer. It was written in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1923, and first published in my private song pamphlets.”
George Beverly Shea (1909–2013), the renowned Canadian-born singer of the Billy Graham Crusades, introduced this hymn at evangelistic meetings in Great Britain in 1954, where it quickly became a beloved favorite.
Lyrics:
1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hast provided;
Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me.
2. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. [Refrain]
3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside. [Refrain]
You can listen here:
https://youtu.be/4Zj6EwlL9E0?si=AwCMGH0gShEXssob
References:
https://hymnary.org/text/great_is_thy_faithfulness_o_god_my_fathe
https://www.hymncharts.com/2022/08/15/the-story-behind-great-is-thy-faithfulness
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-great-is-thy-faithfulness
