Great is Thy Faithfulness
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 will be.
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
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.
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, with ten thousand beside!
The inspiration of this hymn comes from the Scripture found in Lamentations 3:22-23 which reads “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.” This particular hymn is beloved by many, and unlike some older hymns that are no longer sung frequently in today’s churches, this hymn continues to be a part of the modern church today. The song was written by Thomas Chisolm in 1923. Mr. Chisolm came from a humble background in Franklin, Kentucky. He was born in a log cabin, and never received a high school education or advanced degree. However, he became a school teacher, an editor, and eventually wrote over 1,200 sacred poems of which some eventually became hymns. This particular hymn is an excellent example of taking themes and passages from Scripture, and expounding on the passage in a beautifully poetic way.
Couple of points of note:
- “Morning by morning new mercies I see” – When you wake up in the morning, what is your perspective? Do you see new mercies that the Lord has given every day (another day of life, another day of provision for food and shelter, another day to spend with your love ones)? Or is your perspective that each morning brings its own set of new problems? I like that the author here states that he sees these new mercies because that tells me he is looking for them. They are not going to necessarily hit you right between the eyes every morning. We have to be looking for the many ways that God shows us His mercy to be reminded of them. That simple change in perspective should open our eyes to all the daily blessings that we are given.
- “All I have needed Thy hand hath provided” – This phrase is just packed with truth. I decided to change a couple of words to really show the impact of this phrase:
- “Some of what I have needed Thy hand hath provided” contrasts with the Scripture that states “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His reaches in Christ Jesus.”
- “All I have wanted, Thy hand hath provided” – Webster defines “need” as “a lack of something deemed necessary” or “destitution or extreme poverty”. Webster defines “want” as “something desired or demanded” or “a sense of lack or need of something.” In America, I believe we have a real problem distinguishing our needs and wants. Does my I-pod hold 1,000 songs or 5,000 songs? The last definition of want was a “sense” of lack or need. If we “want” something bad enough, we tend to elevate it to “need” status and then wonder why our needs aren’t met, and get mad at God. Isn’t that some crazy logic?
- “All I have needed, My hand hath provided” – Do you provide for your family? Or does the Lord give you a job and the strength and the ability to provide for your family? If our perspective is that we are “self-made,” we are sadly mistaken. The Lord is our Provider in every way.
- “All I have needed, Thy hand hath held back” – God looks to bless us, not hold back from us. I love the passage in Matthew 7:11 which reads “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
- “Strength for today” – Notice that the author doesn’t say, “Strength for today, tomorrow, next week, and next month.” Jesus spoke about worrying in Matthew 6:34 when He said “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Today has enough troubles of its own, but the Lord will give us the strength today for the problems of today. He has not promised to eliminate all of our problems or provide strength for problems we have yet to encounter, but He will provide strength for this day and its problems.
Do you enjoy watching sunrises and sunsets? It is amazing to me how beautiful a sunrise or sunset can be whether I am at the ocean, or watching the sun come up over a mountaintop, or especially watching a sunset when the clouds create beautiful reds, oranges, and even purples. I have often wondered how people that live at the North or South poles go days or weeks without the sun shining at all during their winter. That has to be very depressing. What I find interesting about the sun is that it appears to be constantly changing. Although it consistently rises in the east and sets in the west, the sun doesn’t stay in the same spot on the horizon, nor does it have the same color all the time. From an earthly perspective, it appears to be constantly moving and changing during the day, the month, and even the year. Occasionally, it is even eclipsed by a much smaller object like the moon. However, reality is completely different. The sun is fixed in space. It doesn’t rise and set. It doesn’t change. What changes is our perspective of the sun from the earth.
The same is true for God. As this hymn reminds us, He changeth not. The Bible says in Malachi 3:6 “For I am Lord, I change not.” The writer of Hebrews 13:8 says that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” From our point of view, however, there may be times in our lives when our perspective of God changes. Maybe we see Him shining bright at High noon. Or maybe we can’t see Him at all in the “midnight” times in our lives. Maybe we experience seasons of life where we are closer to Him (summertime) and then there are times where He appears to be far off (wintertime). The reality, however, is that our perspective is what has changed. God has not moved. I also am reminded that day and night, spring, summer, winter, and fall are all natural, necessary parts of life so these changes and seasons are not necessarily bad things. But throughout those changes, the sun (and the Son) remain consistent.
Malachi 1:1 reads “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun.” Take time to be thankful for God’s faithfulness. Be grateful that He “changeth not,” and pray that we can trust His consistency no matter how our perspective might be changing. And be reminded by the daily rising and setting of the sun that, as Scripture tells us, God’s faithfulness and His name are great.