Lamentations 3:22-26
This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope! 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.
What makes these words so meaningful is to know that they were spoken as a lament, bemoaning the fall of the City of Jerusalem in 586 BC, the very moment the people of God had every right to doubt His love and faithfulness – but they didn’t!
I’m sure there were those who said the writers’ words were good poetry, but they were not based in reality. It was over! Jerusalem was gone! But the poet remained steadfast in his trust in the one who had been steadfast in his love toward them. For had it not been in God’s will, Jerusalem would not have fallen.
What a word of counsel for us today! For when we cannot comprehend what God is doing in the world today, and how it fits into His eternal plan for our redemption, we must learn to trust in who He is, for that has not changed, and it never will. Every day is a day that the Lord hath made, and we must rejoice in it.
The History behind the Hymn
“Great is Thy Faithfulness” was written in 1925 by Thomas Chisholm. Born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky, Chisholm became a Christian when he was 27 and entered the ministry when he was 36, though poor health forced him to retire after just one year. During the rest of his life, Chisholm worked as an insurance agent, but he also wrote 1,200 poems, including several published hymns.
Toward the end of his life, Chisholm said, “My income has 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.”
Each new day, God gives us the chance to prove His faithfulness, and throughout history, He’s never once been proven wrong, for His mercies are new every morning, no matter what.
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 wilt be.
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!