Great is Thy Faithfulness
Who hasn't sung "Great is Thy Faithfulness" with tears in their eyes? It's a great hymn of faith, and Thomas Chisolm who wrote it was a man of great faith himself.
In Friday Classic Hymns, we take our favourite old hymns and look at them in three sections: the history of the hymn, the lyrics, and then a performance of the hymn. Skip to any of the sections below if you want to, or watch the whole thing as we look at one of the great hymns of all time: Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
The Story Behind "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
The words for this were written by Thomas Chisholm. He lived a pretty normal life—he was a schoolteacher at one point, the editor of a local paper, and worked in an insurance company. Unlike Horatio Spafford, who wrote "It Is Well with My Soul" after a terrible tragedy in his life, Chisholm just wrote this as one of many poems that he wrote and didn't think altogether too much about it. He sent it off with a bunch of other poems to a friend of his, William Runyan, who was a composer.
Runyan liked this particular poem and said he was very careful to write a meaningful melody that would bring across the message of these words. In a letter in the 1950s, this is what he wrote about the tune: "This particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carry over its message in a worthy way, and the subsequent history of its use indicates that God answered prayer."
There's something very meaningful about this: an ordinary life with God is still a spectacular one. You can just have an ordinary life, doing your thing with God, and still be amazed at His faithfulness and His mercy. It's not only in our tragedies, in our very low lows or in our very high highs that God speaks to us. Sometimes it is the mundane, everyday life where we see God's mercy in its most powerful form.
Thomas Chisholm wrote this about this song:
"My income had not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years, which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness."
An ordinary man who, in the ordinariness of life, saw a great God.
What Do the Lyrics of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" Mean?
Verse 1
Verse 1 is just stunning: "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father."
We'll get back to that phrase "great is Thy faithfulness" in a moment because he says it again in the chorus, but notice the personal feel here: God my Father. A real personal connection he has with God. You need that if you're going to discover His faithfulness. He can't just be a distant part of your life, but He has to be your real, living Father.
"There is no shadow of turning with Thee."
That's a beautiful line and comes from James 1, which says in the King James, "Every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Or if you look at a more modern translation, it says "the Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows."
Again, if you think of the history of this song, the fact that he was in his ordinary, everyday, day-by-day life noticing the faithfulness of God—this is very profound. Everything else in life changes, but there's not even a shadow of turning. There is nothing that changes about God. He is faithful, He is solid, He is strong, He is unchanging.
The words say it again now in the next line: "Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not."
Throughout my life I've seen His compassion never failing.
"As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be."
This is a great verse about the unchanging nature of God. I wonder if you need to remember that today, and whenever you sing this song, that God is constant and unchanging. That's why we sing of His great faithfulness.
Chorus
Then the chorus, which is classic, goes like this: "Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Just that repetition is very significant—the fact that he needs to say it again to celebrate how amazing God is.
"Morning by morning new mercies I see."
Now these two lines come out of the book of Lamentations. Lamentations 3:22-23 says this in the King James version: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not" (you heard that in verse 1 as well: "Thy compassions, they fail not"). "They are new every morning."
Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Great is Thy faithfulness.
Isn't that amazing? Every morning as I go about my life, I wake up and God's faithfulness is still true, it's still strong. New mercies are poured out every morning. This is why so many people have found that they love this hymn, because it's so real. Every morning we wake up and we find God's mercy still there, and His faithfulness is still there.
"All I have needed Thy hand hath provided."
Everything I have, God provides it. It reminds me of Philippians 4:19, where Paul says, "My God shall supply all your needs." God is faithful and He's providing for us as well.
And then again, "Great is Thy faithfulness"—the third time in the chorus. It's worth repeating.
"Lord, unto me."
Again, there's that personal touch. Not just in general, but God, You are faithful to me.
Verse 2
Let's look at verse 2, which says: "Summer and winter and springtime and harvest"—in other words, all throughout the year. Doesn't matter what day it is, doesn't matter what season we're in, God's faithfulness is still true.
"Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love."
There's one thought there that says every bit of creation, all of nature, is a witness to God's great faithfulness and mercy and love. This is, again, a beautiful verse to sing, saying the whole world is witnessing to the faithfulness of God every day.
Doesn't matter what season we're in, God's faithfulness is on display. There's the sense of the song saying, "I'm joining in. I'm joining in with the whole of creation to declare that God is faithful and full of mercy and full of love."
Do you see the world in this way? Do you see all the world as just one giant proclamation of God's mercy and love? Maybe we need to pray today for God to open our eyes to see how the world is displaying His love in this way.
Verse 3
Then comes the third verse, which says: "Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth."
Just pause there. Pardon for sin, or forgiveness of sin, is one of God's amazing faithful acts in our lives. Every time we talk of God's faithfulness, we always remember how He faithfully forgives us. 1 John 1:9 says that if we have sinned, God is faithful and just to forgive us if we confess. Maybe you need to remember again today that God is faithful to forgive you for the sins that are manifest in your life.
And a peace that endureth—what peace comes from God's faithfulness and from His faithful forgiving of our sins! There is no real peace that endures apart from the peace that comes from His faithfulness and faith of ours in His faithfulness. If you want to have enduring peace, have your sins forgiven by God and realise how faithful He is.
"Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide."
Oh, I love singing that line. God's presence in our lives to cheer us—which we need. Do you need some cheering today in your spirit? Hold on to God's faithful presence. He will cheer you and guide you in your life. We all need guidance in our lives; God is the one who provides it faithfully.
I can just see how in my own life God's faithful guidance has been there, even if I have only seen His guidance in hindsight.
"Strength for today."
Again, what an amazing faithful act of God, to give us strength. Strength for today. You need strength today? God is there to give it to you. Call out to Him, lean on Him. His own presence is there with you if you'll realise it and claim it and live in it. It will give you new strength like nothing else can.
"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."
God's faithfulness is very real today—it's absolutely real today—but it also gives us hope for tomorrow. I think of that other great song, "Because He Lives": "I can face tomorrow" because He is faithful. There is hope for tomorrow. That is beautiful to hold on to.
"Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside."
You know, God is faithful to just give us so many blessings. Look around and see the blessings that He's given you. I'll look around to see the blessings He's given me. We can sing together: great is His faithfulness.
Conclusion
One incredible set of words, and I hope when we sing it we don't just shift over these words without even thinking about it. Look deeply into these words, and I feel like every time you sing it, something different is going to touch you, because it is very layered, isn't it? All these great wonders of God's faithfulness.
If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to the channel for more hymn studies. You can also support this ministry through Patreon or PayPal. For more content, check out my daily devotions and Canaan Melodies.
References
James 1 - "Every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
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."
Philippians 4:19 - "My God shall supply all your needs."
1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
