Monday, January 16, 2006

Great is Thy Faithfulness



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.


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.


Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessing all mine, with ten thousand beside!


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 was born in 1866 in the state of Kentucky. He wrote over 1200 hymns, such as: "Living For Jesus," and "O, to be Like Thee." But the hymn we remember the most is "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." Chisholm did not write this hymn because something great and miraculous had taken place in his life. No, he wrote this because over his entire life he had learned to see the greatness of God. At the age of 75, he wrote:
"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.""

2 comments:

thebeloved said...

This is one of my favorite hymns. I remember my parents singing it to me before I went to bed when I was little. Sometimes they would sing other hymns too, like "To God be the glory" and "This is my Father's World".

Bonita said...

Very lovely and moving hymn. I'd love to hear you sing it sometime.