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.
Refrain
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!
Thomas
O. Chisholm was born in a log cabin in Franklin,
Kentucky. He was educated in a small country school, and
became its teacher at age 16. At age 21, he became
associate editor of the weekly newspaper, The Franklin
Favorite. In 1893, he became a Christian. He was
ordained a Methodist minister in 1903 and served a brief pastorate
at Scottsville, Kentucky. He retired in 1953 to the
Methodist Home for the Aged in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Chisholm
wrote over 1200 poems, of which 800 were published. Many of
them were set to music.
According to
Chisholm, there were no special circumstances which prompted him
to write this great hymn—just his experience and Bible
truth. In a letter written in 1941, he said, "My income
has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the
earlier years which has followed me 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."
