Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Thomas Chisholm, 1923

What This Song Teaches Us About God

The central claim of this hymn is that God does not change. The word “faithfulness” means consistently doing what you promised, without wavering and without forgetting. God’s faithfulness is “great” — total, complete, and without exception. He has never failed to keep a promise, and He will be the same tomorrow as He is today.

Thomas Chisholm wrote this not from comfortable circumstances but from a life marked by serious illness and financial hardship. His confidence came from God’s character as revealed in Scripture, not from how his life was going. The hymn points to nature as evidence — harvests, seasons, sunrise — daily demonstrations that God keeps His word. The chorus, “Morning by morning new mercies I see,” is drawn from Lamentations, a book written in the middle of catastrophe. The point is that faithfulness is not something we feel God has when life is good. It is something we declare about who He is even when life is hard, because it is based on His character, not our circumstances.

Scripture Connections

• Lamentations 3:22–23 — The direct source of “morning by morning new mercies I see”; even in devastating loss, God’s compassions do not fail and are new every morning.
• Malachi 3:6 — “I the Lord do not change” — God’s unchanging nature is the foundation of every promise He makes and keeps.
• James 1:17 — God is described as the “Father of lights” in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning, emphasizing His absolute constancy.

Clarifying the Language

“Thy” — Old English for “your.” Throughout this hymn, “thy” and “thine” simply mean “your” and “yours.” The hymn is addressed directly to God.

“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth” — This line means forgiveness for the wrong things we have done, and a peace that does not fade away. “Endureth” just means “lasts” or “holds on.”