Great Is Thy Faithfulness

#86 Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Words: Thomas O. Chishholm

Music: William M. Runyan

1923

Verse 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 will be.

Verse 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.

Verse 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, With ten thousand beside!

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!

Thomas Chisholm—born in Kentucky in 1866.

Became a school teacher at 16, an associate editor for his hometown newspaper at 21

At 27 he became a follower of Christ and became a Methodist pastor after that.

In 1903 he married Catherine Vandervere.

After this though he went through many health issues and ended up leaving the ministry, facing many financial hardships. He began to sell life insurance to take care of his wife and two daughters.

In 1923 now in his late 50s, he wrote a poem entitled Great is Thy Faithfulness, and sent it to his friend and pastor William Runyan who was also a musician associated with Moody Bible Institution.

Runyan wrote about the poem: “This particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carry over its message in a worthy way,”

The hymn became a classic for Moody, even becoming the college’s unofficial hymn. But it didn’t take on worldwide fame until Billy Graham started using it for his crusades in 1954.

Chisholm continued to work as a life insurance agent and died in his late 90s. He over a thousand poems and many of them have become published hymns though nothing as popular as Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Chisholm admitted that this hymn did not come forth from any major even in his life...it’s just a reflection of God’s constant care in a Christian’s life.

Chorus: Theme of the hymn: God is faithful

Verse 1: Who he is

Verse 2: Revealed in nature

Verse 3: Revealed in salvation

Chorus: Theme of the hymn: God is faithful

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!

Lamentations 3:22–23 “22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Faithful: Unchanging, true, constant, keeps promise.

In a world full of change, there is a constant that will always provide.

Verse 1: Who he is

Verse 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 will be.

O God my Father

Covenant God who has entered into covenant with his people

Ezekiel 37:27 “27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Hebrews 8:10 “10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Romans 8:15 “15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””

No shadow of turning

James 1:16–18 “16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

Malachi 3:6 “6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Thou changest not...As Thou has been, Thou forever wilt be

Hebrews 13:8 “8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Revelation 1:8 “8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””

Psalm 102:25–27 “25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.”

Isaiah 44:6–8 “6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. 7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. 8 Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.””

Isaiah 44:9–20 ESV

9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Thy compassions they fail not

Compassion: A deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering

Exodus 34:6–7 “6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful (compassionate) and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.””

Verse 2: Revealed in nature

Verse 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.

Romans 1:19–20 “19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Genesis 1:14–18 “14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 8:22 “22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.””

Job 38:12–13 “12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?”

Colossians 1:15–17 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Verse 3: Revealed in salvation

Verse 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, With ten thousand beside!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Romans 5:1–2 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 8:1 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide

Lamentations 3:22–24 “22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””

Psalm 16 “A Miktam of David. 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Psalm 73:23–26 “23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside

What are blessings in this context? Presence with God in this world.