Great Is Thy FaithfulnessExemplo

THE DIVINE FACTS

Many of us can describe the worst day of our lives, when our greatest fears were realized, our nightmares came true, and we almost wished we had died before that day arrived. How hard to bear those times of terrible grief, loss, sorrow, and desolation.

The prophet Jeremiah spent decades preaching to the people of Jerusalem, few of whom listened to him. He warned, instructed, predicted, and wept as he begged people to repent. The culture around him devolved, and revivals no longer occurred. Despite his pleas, he saw few converts. His society went from worse to worst, and judgment fell in 587 BC, when the Babylonian army broke through the walls, slaughtered the people, burned the city, and destroyed God’s temple.

It was the most traumatic day of his life.

The Old Testament book of Lamentations is a series of five sorrowful songs—funeral dirges—Jeremiah composed about the horror, and they are among the saddest words ever written. But right in the middle of them, he said, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope . . .” (Lamentations 3:21).

If you’ll pause there a moment, you’ll find the secret to resiliency. Even in the middle of Jeremiah’s pain, he stopped and reminded himself of the divine facts.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (vv. 21–23).

God’s love is greater than we know. His depths of compassion are limitless. His blessing comes afresh every morning. He doesn’t change, and His faithfulness is as great as His unfathomable nature.

Thomas Chisholm was a farmer, publisher, preacher, husband, and father. At age fifty-seven, he studied Lamentations 3 and wrote a poem about it. Someone set it to music, making it a beloved hymn. 

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.

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.

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!

When you have a hard day—even the hardest—call this to mind and regain hope: God’s lordship is so much greater than your hardship. Life may change, but the Lord doesn’t. Great is His faithfulness!

Calm me, O God, and keep me calm. —Thomas Obadiah Chisholm