A hymn for your congregation to learn and sing in worship, and for your family to learn and sing in the home.
Traditional recording (with lyrics)
Modern recording (Christy Nockels)
Choral recording (NAC South Africa)
Lyrics
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 hast 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 and ten thousand beside. [Refrain]
Sheet Music / Arrangements
Choral: http://jwpepper.com/great-is-thy-faithfulness-10750809-493581/p (SATB / Mary McDonald)
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/great-is-thy-faithfulness-11566230-2260683/p (SATB / Maureen Howell / Congregational singing option)
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/great-is-thy-faithfulness-11397086-798349/p (SAB / Brian Hanson)
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/great-is-thy-faithfulness-11100211-645780/p (Unison / Mark Patterson)
Piano: https://koertsmusic.com/downloads/great-is-thy-faithfulness-3/ (Early Intermediate)
Piano: https://koertsmusic.com/downloads/great-is-thy-faithfulness-4/ (Moderately Advanced)
Bible Memory Verse
"Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:22-23, CSB)
The Story Behind the Hymn
While many hymns are born out of a particular dramatic experience, this hymn was simply the result of the author's "morning by morning realization of God's personal faithfulness."
Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born in a humble log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky, in 1866. Without the benefit of high school or advanced training, he began his career as a school teacher at the age of sixteen in the same country school house where he had attended. Six years later he accepted Christ as his personal Savior during a revival meeting. Later, Chisholm was ordained to the Methodist ministry, but was forced to resign after a brief pastorate because of poor health. After 1909 he became a life insurance agent in Winona Lake, Indiana. In a letter dated 1941, Mr. Chisholm writes, "My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health, but I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness."
Thomas Chisholm wrote more than 1200 poems, including the well-known "He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions." In 1923, he sent several poems to William M. Runyan, a musician associated with the Moody Bible Institute. Mr. Runyan wrote of "Great is Thy Faithfulness": "This particular poem 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. It was written in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1923."
Thomas Chisholm's words were derived from Lamentations chapter 3 and set to music by William Runyan. From the heart of a Methodist minister, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" has inspired countless believers to trust their faithful God.