Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#556

556. Great Is Thy Faithfulness

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1 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!

2 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]

3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow–
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father
• Title: Great Is Thy Faithfulness
• Author: Thomas O. Chisholm (1923)
• Refrain First Line: Great is thy faithfulness
• Meter: 11 10 11 10 with refrain
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Genesis 8:22
  ;
  Psalm 36:5
  ;
  Lamentations 3:22-23
• Topic: Walk with God; Assurance; Creation; Faithfulness of God; Forgiveness; Hope; Mercy; Providence; Redemption
• Copyright: © 1923, 1951, Hope Publishing Co.
• Notes: Now Public Domain.

Tune Information

• Name: FAITHFULNESS
• Composer: William M. Runyan (1923)
• Meter: 11 10 11 10 with refrain
• Key: D Major
• Copyright: Text and music © 1923, 1951, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
• Notes: Now Public Domain.

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Lam. 3:22, James 1:17
st. 2 = Ps. 36:5.Ps. 104:19
ref. = Lam. 3:23, James 1:17

"There is no circumstantial background for 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness,'" writes its author, Thomas O. Chisholm (PHH 292). He goes on to say that it was simply the result of his "morning by morning realization of God's personal faithfulness." Chisholm wrote the text in Vineland, New Jersey, in 1923, and sent it to his friend William M. Runyan, who composed the tune. Set to FAITHFULNESS, the text was published in Runyan's Songs of Salvation and Service (1923). "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is a vibrant testimony to the faithfulness of God, a testimony Chisholm reaffirmed in 1941:

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.

The text emphasizes the immutability of God (st. 1), a constancy to which nature attests (st. 2). But the greatest evidence of God's unfailing love is his forgiveness and "presence to cheer and to guide" us each day of our walk with him (st. 3). The refrain was inspired by the comforting words of Lamentations 3:22-23.

Liturgical Use:
As a hymn of testimony to God's covenant faithfulness; weddings; funerals.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

William Marion Runyan (b. Marion, NY, 1870; d. Pittsburg, KS, 1957) composed FAITHFULNESS for Chisholm's text in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1923. Twenty years later Runyan wrote:

Mr. Chisholm and I were devoted co-workers, and I wrote harmonies to some 20 or 25 of his poems. This particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carryover its message in a worthy way, and the subsequent history of its use indicates that God answers prayer.

Showing early musical promise, Runyan was a substitute church organist by the age of twelve. He became a Methodist minister in 1891 and served several churches in Kansas but turned to evangelism in 1903; he worked for the Central Methodist Conference for the next twenty years. Following that service, Runyan became pastor at the Federated Church at John Brown University, Sulphur Springs [sic: Siloam Springs], Arkansas. Editor of Christian Workers Magazine, he also served the Moody Bible Institute and was an editor for Hope Publishing Company until his retirement in 1948. Runyan wrote a number of hymn texts, gospel songs, and hymn tunes.

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness" became an unofficial school hymn at Moody Bible Institute, and it was featured in the Billy Graham crusades in England in 1954. Thus it obtained popularity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sing this distinguished gospel music in harmony at a moderate pace.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook