Worship Ministry - February 2023
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
The hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” is one all of us know and know well, and if you grew up in church you probably have sung it many times. This hymn is one of my favorite songs of all time because of its rich truth of God’s faithfulness. I must confess that I was a little shocked to learn that in the grand scheme of time, this song isn’t that old (1923); especially when you compare it to hymns such as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (1529)(translated in 1852) or even “Holy, Holy, Holy” (1826). You would also expect a song as powerful as “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” to be accompanied by a great story inspired by some great tragedy or life-altering triumph, but the author once admitted that there “was no dramatic story behind the writing” of the song.
The hymn's author, Thomas Chisholm, was born not too far from us in Franklin, Kentucky. Chisholm came to Christ at the age of 27 and from then until he died at the age of 94, he penned 1,200 poems and hymns. After sending a few of his poems to his friend and musician, William Runyan, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” was put to a tune and first published in 1923. It is a little hard to believe that the popularity of the song was slow to spread and only became well known after being used by George Beverly Shea and the Billy Graham Crusades.
As I ponder the lyrics of this song and the history of their author, I am stuck by his declaration of there not being a “dramatic story.” Each one of us has times in our lives when we are overwhelmed by grief, stress, and hardship, and other days that are full of joy, triumph, and victory; however, most of our days are just normal days. The majority of our days have nothing partially special about them, nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, it was on a day much like that when Chisholm penned the words “Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be” and “Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
What an incredible challenge to us that we would remember God’s unending overwhelming faithfulness on our most mundane days. That we wouldn’t only be thankful for His provision as we are relieved of pain or sorrow. Not just on days when the storm seems to be clearing. Not just on days when we are on top of the world and it seems like nothing can stop us from achieving all that we want to accomplish. Rather, on those days that are the most normal, the days that won’t be remembered next week; those too are the days to celebrate God’s great faithfulness. Every morning we should lift praise to our King for His faithfulness in filling our lungs with breath, providing for our most basic needs, and allowing us to call Him father. May we be a more faithful people to the One who has been the most faithful! “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” Psalm 36:5
Lyric of the Month
For God so loved The world that He gave us His one and only Son to save us Whoever believes in Him Will live forever
Psalm 103:1
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.