Great Is Thy Faithfulness

What is the story behind the hymn, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"?

On an ordinary day in 1923, Thomas Chisholm scribbled out the poem, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Passed from friend to friend, to composer, to publisher, to evangelist, and eventually to the countless people in church pews well past the time of Thomas' death, this short, simple song became world-famous.

This man and his four stanzas provide us with a remarkable illustration of God's Word in the book of 2 Corinthians, when he tells us, "My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV).

Thomas Chisholm was not out to win the world or make a splash. He didn't go to college, failed to finish out his preaching ministry due to illness, and worked an ordinary job as an insurance agent.

Thomas just enjoyed writing poetry based on what he learned from the Bible. He was an ordinary man, who delighted in the extraordinarily powerful words of Scripture. He wrote over 1200 poems.

Thomas delighted in artfully repeating the very words of Scripture, in this case, the prophet Jeremiah's words from Lamentations, which say,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

The perseverance and prominence of the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness throughout the last century can only be accredited to the power of God's Word, which does not need strong people to defend it, only faithful men and women to love it and proclaim it.