Exegeting the Hymns #12 - Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy Faithfulness
w/m - Thomas Obediah Chisholm, William Marion Runyan

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

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

When I was going through preparation for my spinal surgery back in February of 2016, this was the one hymn, above every hymn ever written in all of the church age that was in my mind day and night. At the time, I didn’t know if I would sing again. The surgeon was going to cut into my throat right next to my vocal chords. I know another, very similar singer, who had this exact surgery and lost a great amount of His range. Our cases were very similar, so what would keep our results from also being the same? That’s the question I kept asking over and over in my head, but then I’d go back to this song and remember God’s sovereignty and God’s providential plan and that, above all brought peace.

Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. God has had a plan for this world as a whole and also for every single detail. Not even a sparrow falls without Him. Note, it doesn’t say without His knowledge, it says without Him, or in the HCSB version, “without His consent”. God isn’t sitting up in heaven waiting for His angels to bring Him news of the days events. He isn’t even looking down to see what happens. He knows and either determines or allows (gives consent) for everything that transpires in His universe before it happens. He has always known, even before He created this world. In God’s providence, He has made promises to His people and God is faithful. He never turns away or backs down from a promise.  

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. One of the attributes of God is His immutability. That is defined as an attribute that God is unchanging in his character, will, and covenant promises. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that "[God] is a spirit, whose being, wisdom power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable." Those things do not change. God’s love and compassion for His children never changes.  
Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. Another favorite hymn said “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before”. Every day we spend in the Word and in prayer (communicating with God), we learn more about Him and see for ourselves His faithfulness on display. Every day we need new mercies because every day we fail Him, but even when we are faithless, He remains faithful. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me. We pray “give us this day, our daily bread” and God provides us so much more every day. He meets our needs, both physical and spiritual.  

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. When we recorded this song back in 2011, we didn’t do this verse, but it is worth remembering that God’s faithfulness is shown in much more than our checkbooks, jobs, health, and families. The fact that the earth keeps spinning, the sun keeps giving us warmth and light, the plants keep giving us oxygen to breathe should be call for our gratitude. The heavens do declare the glory of God.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Of all the blessings I have, for this I am most thankful. Without pardon for sin, I truly would be living my best life now instead of in eternity. Because of that pardon, every other blessing is icing on the cake. My eternity is secure and I can enjoy a life of serving Him. Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. The presence of God brings joy as well as direction. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. I can’t tell you what it meant to sing that phrase over and over again in my mind, on the way to the hospital that cold, early morning in February. I prayed for God’s will to be done, but that if He wanted to keep using my voice for His Kingdom, He’d need to give me strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow! And He did. It would have been okay if He didn’t, but He did, so my goal is to be faithful to the time He has given me and use wisely the Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!

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