Great Is Thy Faithfulness

It is 3:50 A.M. and lying in bed staring at the ceiling was an all too familiar and tiresome option. While I was doing just that, the words and the music of the hymn “Great Is thy Faithfulness” kept swirling around in my head. The verse I can remember the best is the chorus which flows as follows:

“Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided,
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”

The lyrics for “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” were written in 1923 by Thomas Chisholm who died at the age of ninety-four in 1960. The hymn was made popular by the Billy Graham Crusades in England in 1954. William Runyan wrote the music.

The lyrics of this great hymn have their origin in Lamentations 3: 19-26.

19 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul still remembers And sinks within me.
21 ¶ This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

These words have always been a comfort to me. When things are not going as well as I would like, I often turn to these timeless words written by the prophet Jeremiah. Our lamentable circumstances are very real and like the prophet Jeremiah, we should face that reality directly. Denial and forced cheerfulness gets us nowhere. At the same time, we have to rise above our present circumstance and look beyond in faith. We have a God of unending faithfulness for us. His compassion for us is always there and never fails. Despite our present difficulties, He will not allow us to be consumed. We should find great hope in the promises of salvation.

As I sit here this morning, I continue to wait for Him. I seek Him especially at a quiet time like this. The best news of all is that His mercy and compassion are renewed every morning. Despite difficult nights, I am heartened by the fact that each and every one of those nights is followed by morning.

Praise the Lord this morning! Great is His faithfulness.

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