Great Is Thy Faithfulness

November 12, 2023 homily on Lamentations 3:22-33 by Pastor Galen

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;  they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Our family has a practice of sharing about the favorite parts of our day every evening as we gather around the dinner table. Partway through dinner, someone will ask the question, “What was your favorite part of the day?” And then we each take turns sharing.

If someone in our family has had a particularly challenging day, it’s often difficult for them to think of anything positive that has happened. But we give them space to think, and almost always they can come up with something positive to share.

Looking for some bright spot in the midst of difficult circumstances is something that takes intentional effort. Often when things go well we hardly think about it. But when things are going wrong, all we can think about is what went wrong. (Sort of like the sound system here at our church. We barely notice it when it’s functioning correctly. But when things go haywire, we definitely notice it!) 

It’s difficult to pay attention to the good things in life, since we so often take them for granted. This is why we as a family have chosen to intentionally focus on the favorite parts of our day, as a way for us to practice being grateful for all the blessings we’ve experienced, despite the challenges we may face.

Thomas Chisolm, the Teacher/Editor/Pastor/Life Insurance Agent/Poet

The author of the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” Thomas O. Chisolm, certainly mastered the art of being grateful even in the midst of challenging circumstances in life. At first, everything seemed to be going his way. Born in 1866 in a small town in Kentucky, Chisholm must have done well in school, because he was hired to work as a teacher at the age of just 16, and then at the age of 21, he became the editor of his hometown newspaper. Following his conversion to Christ at the age of 27, Chisolm accepted the invitation to move to Louisville to become the editor of the Pentecostal Herald, a Christian periodical. While there, he felt called to become a pastor, and was ordained as a Methodist minister at the age of 37. 

But then life took a different turn. After only one year of serving as a pastor, he found it necessary to resign from the ministry due to his poor health. It took him about 5 years for him to recover, after which he spent the rest of his career working as a life insurance agent. (Working as a life insurance agent is a worthwhile occupation, but given what I’m sure was a lengthy and rigorous ordination process, having to step down from the ministry due to poor health must certainly have been cause of great disappointment.)

And yet, Chisolm remained steadfast in his desire to encourage others in the Lord, and so he turned to poetry as a way to point others towards Christ. Throughout his life (he lived to the age of 93), Chisolm wrote over 1200 sacred poems, 800 of which were published in Christian periodicals. Several of his poems were set to music, including the hymn that many of us know and love: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” The first verse says,

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.

When interviewed several years prior to writing this hymn, Chisholm said, “Having been led, for a part of my life through some difficult paths, I have sought to gather from such experiences material out of which to write hymns of comfort and cheer for those similarly circumstanced.”

The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases

For inspiration, Chisholm turned to the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22-23, in which we find the words, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

These verses became the basis for the refrain of Chisolm’s poem:

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!

The Story Behind Lamentations

Lamentations is not the book most of us would turn to to find encouragement since the book of Lamentations is an extended lament: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Lamentations was written following the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, and it describes in graphic detail the horrific devastation that the people of Judah experienced when their city was besieged by the Babylonians. 

Perhaps Chisolm turned to the book of Lamentations for inspiration in 1923 when he wrote Great Is Thy Faithfulness, since during the previous decade the world had been rocked by the devastation of World War 1, which claimed the lives of 20 million people worldwide. As World World War 1 was coming to an end, the world was rocked again by the Great Influenza epidemic of 1918, which claimed the lives of anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. (One can only imagine the tragic stories of grief and loss that Chisolm must have heard while working as a life insurance agent during this time.)

And so Chisolm found resonance with the laments found in the book of Lamentations. And there, in the midst of the detailed account of tragedy and loss, he found these few verses of hope in Lamentations chapter 3, where the author highlights the reality that God is faithful. In the midst of devastation and loss, the author pauses to extol God’s goodness, saying, “‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,  ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him’” (Lamentations 3:24-25). 

The focus here in Lamentations is on God’s desire to show love and mercy, even when the people had turned against God. Skipping down a few verses, the author of Lamentations proclaims, “For the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” (Lamentations 3:31-33).

The phrase “God does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” sticks out to me here, because it acknowledges that God does not desire to cause pain or suffering. Even though the author of Lamentations, like most of the authors of the Hebrew Bible, frequently attributes everything that happens in the world to God—the good, the bad, and the ugly, we see here that it is neither God’s will nor God’s plan to cause suffering. If indeed God was punishing the people, as the author believed, Lamentations is clear that God does not want to do so, and God is ready and willing to forgive as soon as the people turn to the Lord and repent. 

Pardon for Sin and a Peace that Endureth

The third verse of Great Is Thy Faithfulness picks up on this theme of forgiveness.

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! 

Today we know that not everything bad that happens in the world is due to God punishing us. The Book of Job makes this clear. Bad things happen, and most of the time we have no idea as to why. Yes, we sometimes suffer the consequences of our own mistakes. And yes, quite often people suffer due to other people’s selfishness, greed, or hatred. But other times we get sick, or experience devastation or loss, and we don’t know why. But no matter what suffering we endure, we can rest in the confidence that God has not turned against us. We can have hope and confidence in God’s faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

The author of Lamentations knew that despite everything the people of God had endured, God is faithful. God is merciful, and God will always forgive us if we will but turn to God in repentance and trust. Chisholm knew this as well, and took the time to pen the words of this poem. 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

After completing the poem Chisholm sent a batch of his poems to a friend by the name of Rev. William Runyan who worked at Moody Bible Institute, who chose this poem to set to music. 30 years later, the Canadian-born singer George Beverly Shea introduced this hymn at a Billy Graham evangelistic meeting in Great Britain. The song instantly became a favorite and remains so to this day. The composer, Rev. Runyam, wrote, “This particular poem (of Chisolm’s) 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 [that] prayer.”

If only we could all learn the art of focusing on God’s faithfulness, no matter what challenges we face in this life. If only we could remember that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and that God’s mercy never comes to an end. If only we could find ways to encourage and remind one another that God’s mercies are new every morning. Indeed, it takes discipline to remember God’s faithfulness in the midst of difficult circumstances. We would all benefit from practices such as counting our blessings, or sharing the favorite parts of our day to help us remember God’s mercy and grace. 

This is why we come together at the beginning of every week to reflect on and remember God’s faithfulness together. This is why we sing songs of praise, and read and listen to Scripture together each Sunday. This is why we partake together in Communion at the beginning of each month, and why we set aside times for celebration and thanksgiving on an annual basis. This is also why we plan special occasions such as our upcoming Church Anniversary (155 years as a congregation, 100 years in this building) to remember and reflect on God’s faithfulness, not only toward us individually, but also to our congregation.

Let us relish in these opportunities in these upcoming weeks to remember and reflect on God’s goodness and God’s love. Let us rest in the assurance that no matter what we may face in this life, God is faithful. May we remind one another that God’s mercy is neverending and that God’s mercies are new every morning. Great is God’s faithfulness!

Amen!