Great is Thy Faithfulness!

In Lamentations 3:22-23, we read:  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."  I love this beautiful hymn, and I enjoyed reading and learning about the background in the hymn stories of Kenneth Osbeck.

     "While many enduring hymns are born out of a particular dramatic experience, this was simply the result of the author's "morning by morning" realization of God's personal faithfulness in his daily life.  Shortly before his death in 1960, Thomas Chisholm wrote:

     'My income has never been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now.  But 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 which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.'

     Thomas Chisholm was born in a crude log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky.  From this humble beginning, and without the benefit of high school or advanced education, he somehow began his career as a school teacher at the age of 16 in the same country school where he had received his elementary training.  After accepting Christ as Saviour, he became editor of 'The Pentecostal Herald' and later was ordained as a Methodist minister.  Throughout his long life time, he wrote more than 1,200 sacred poems, many of which have since become prominent hymn texts.

     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,
Thine own dear Presence to cheer and to guide--
     Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings 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."

Praise the Lord!  What a wonderful song for us to meditate upon throughout this Thanksgiving season!  Let us live in a spirit of grateful praise,. as we recall over and over again the tender mercies and faithfulness of our wonderful Lord!