09/28/2026
This beautiful hymn featured prominently in the service last night. Thanks be to God for His 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.
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. [Refrain]
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! [Refrain]
—Hymn by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923
Thomas Chisholm was born in Kentucky in 1866. Bright and ambitious from an early age, he became a schoolteacher at sixteen and later worked as an editor for his hometown newspaper. At twenty-seven, he became a Christian, and eventually pursued ministry, becoming a Methodist minister in Scottsville, Kentucky.
His life did not unfold quite as he expected.
In 1909, declining health forced him to leave the ministry. The years that followed brought financial difficulties and medical expenses. He supported his family by working in the insurance business, while continuing to write poetry and hymns.
And yet, Chisholm did not seem to measure God's faithfulness by the ease of his circumstances.
In 1923, he wrote the words to “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” drawing directly from the words of Lamentations 3:22–23:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.”
The poem was sent to William M. Runyan, a musician associated with Moody Bible Institute and Hope Publishing Company. Runyan was so moved by the words that he prayed for a melody worthy of them. He later wrote that he prayed “most earnestly” that his tune would carry the message of the poem in a worthy way. The hymn we know today was the result.
I have shared this hymn here before, in different seasons of my life. This autumn, though, I hear it a little differently.
A year ago, I was beginning to learn what it meant to carry grief that would not simply go away. I knew enough to understand that grief changes, but I don't think I understood yet how much of life could be lived alongside it.
A year of ordinary mornings and difficult ones. Of laughter that sometimes surprised me. Of memories that brought both comfort and tears. Of days when I felt strong and days when I simply kept putting one foot in front of the other.
And through all of it, the seasons kept changing.
Summer gave way to autumn, then winter, then spring, and now autumn again. The prairie greened, faded, went dormant, and greened again. The sun continued its course. The moon rose and set. Birds came and went. Life continued in all its ordinary, beautiful ways.
There is something comforting about that constancy.
Jeremiah knew something of this. The words that inspired this hymn came from Lamentations, written in the midst of tremendous devastation. The circumstances had not suddenly become good. The sorrow had not disappeared. And yet, in the middle of his lament, Jeremiah remembered something that remained true.
God was still faithful.
Sometimes God's faithfulness does not mean that morning brings an end to sorrow.
Sometimes the mercy is simply that there is a morning. There is enough grace for this day. Enough strength for the next step. Enough light to see by. Enough love to carry what cannot yet be laid down.
A year into this particular valley, I can say with quiet certainty that God has been faithful.
Not because this year has been easy. Not because grief has followed a straight path. And not because I have understood everything.
But because He has remained.
Morning after morning, there have been mercies.
Strength for today.
Bright hope for tomorrow.
And blessings, still, with ten thousand beside.
As autumn begins again, I find myself grateful for the reminder that the changing seasons can bear witness to an unchanging God.
Wherever you find yourself this Sunday, whether life feels full and peaceful or you are carrying a sorrow that no one else can quite see, I hope this hymn brings you a little comfort.
His mercies are new every morning.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. 🍂🧡
"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."
—Deuteronomy 7:9
"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?"
—Psalm 8:3-4
“But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in him.’”
—Lamentations 3:21–24
Author: Nicole Louden
Published: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Photo September 27, 2026
