Nwsltr-050910-Great is Thy Faithfulness, Even Among Strangers
Taking a journey in history to learn the essence of “Great is thy faithfulness”! Learning mercy in judgment, faith in tragedy, and hope amidst the promises of God!

By the Watchman
Dana G Smith
Keywords: great is thy faithfulness, Judah, Jerusalem, Lord God, Christian, America, Hope
Words 2437

Lamentations 3:22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The grasslands lay out before in all directions as the road swung back and forth among the canyons, hills, and fields. The pavement was good and the road, itself had fairly heavy traffic. The antelope spotted along the fields in groups of 15-100 were a constant resident in these parts. Deer were grazing, but their presence not as the antelope was. The sage, lightly green with a bluish tinge swayed gently in the breeze as the sun beat down on the coming of the green this spring. Rain, snow, sleet in the spring were common and this year as others, it helped the vegetation grow in its usual courses.

Coming down the hill, a farmhouse, few outbuildings, cattle, trees, and resident dogs barking lay quietly to the right. The road ran in a ribbon twisting somewhat as it eventually flattened out after a mile. Further down the road, another small room house. In fact, a school house, an old one. We find in these parts old abandoned school houses, and other former meeting places where the residents who farmed these parts would gather. It was common in those days. It was here in a flat wood, plain white box, called the school house that many got educated in. My grandparents and my mother also experience this kind of education. Living poor on the farm, the family scrapped and survived, working hard and seeing tough times. They were a hardy lot.

It is the history that I pass which makes me think of how far we have come and what we have lost. It is here that we have first lost that which our pioneer forefathers and mothers had. The knowledge of tough times and the faith in the God who delivers to see them through. It is the heart, blood, and faith that comes through in many of the old songs.

Moreover, let me bring you back to a time in 1866. It is July 29th and the heat of the day is pressing in on the people in Simpson County Kentucky. At some point in this day the mother struggling in giving birth, did so and ‘Thomas O. Chisholm was born. It was in the same kind of small box school house that dot our landscapes today Thomas had education. That is, an elementary education. He did not have high school or any further training. But Thomas did have a gift. He liked to write, especially poems. It would be at the hardy age of 21 that Thomas was able to put his gift to work, this was as an associate editor of his home town weekly newspaper, The Franklin Favorite.

Life goes on for all of us and many times it passes quickly. How peculiar that many of us to go through life as such without really knowing in whom the true blessings flow from or if we do, we fail to acknowledge it. That is the gift of writing and especially in poetry. You can take a moment to stop, reflect, and give the glory to whom it is due, along with a point. It would be for Thomas that his life would change. A revivalist by the name of Dr. H.C. Morrison came to his hometown. It was the days of no television and reading the bible or other books, after your daily chores; this was your recreation time. When an event like a revival came along, many went. It was at this event that Thomas Chisholm accepted the Lord as his personal savior, he was 27 years old.  Chisholm at the invitation of Dr. Morrison moved to Louisville to become his office manager and business manager of the ministry’s publication, the “Pentecostal Herald”. Later Chisholm was ordained a Methodist minister, but due to failing health, this lasted only a year.

Life has its turns, twists, and many times; it all leads us to realize what is important! We get so busy we become blinded with it all.  Luke tells us regarding this to ‘take heed to ourselves’. This is because Luke says, “your hearts can be overcharged” with all the cares and related issues of this life. Is this not true? As life takes it turns so did Chisholm’s life and he became a life insurance agent.

Luke 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

It was during the course of his life that Thomas did write, in fact, he put together over 1200 poems. Of which approximately 800 were published. Of these some were put into song format. It was in 1923 that Thomas sent several of his poems to Rev. W.M. Runyan, a musician associated with Moody Bible Institute and an editor with the Hope Publishing Company. One of the songs that was published is called “Great is thy Faithfulness”. The words coming from a poem by Thomas and the music by Runyan. Of course, you know this song well, and probably heard George Beverly Shea sing it on a Billy Graham Crusade, not to mention your own church. An excerpt from Thomas mentions his heart on the song “Great is thy Faithfulness.”

In a heart-uplifting letter dated 1941, Thomas O. Chisholm wrote that although his income has not been enough due to his impaired health, he must record the unfailing faithfulness of God for the “wonderful displays of His providing care” and for which he is “filled with astonishing gratefulness.”
[http://christianmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/great_is_thy_faithfulness#ixzz0mydkgCdL]

The song itself is found in the context of one of the great books of mourning, sorrow, and understanding God’s dealings with people. The book of Lamentations. The verse directly attributed to it is Lamentations 3:22-23.

Lamentations 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

To understand the incredible vision of the author mentioned above in chapter 3 of Lamentations, you must know the background of it. Tradition long before the time of Christ held that Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. It was Jeremiah who warned Judah to repent and that Jerusalem, its temple, it priests, and people would be carried captive to Babylon for 70 years of servitude for their sins against God.  Another custom of the Jews was to name a book written by the first word in that book. In this case the word was ‘ekah’ or “How”. The first verse is as follows:
Lamentations 1:1  ¶How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

Thus this is a sorrowful rendition of what God warned, what the prophets prophesied, and how the people ignored that warning. It breaks the heart, tears the soul, and brings us to realize that God is an awesome avenger on those who fail to repent. It bears us to remember that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It was a message of the writer to warn all generations of what had happened to Israel. Within the scope of their suffering, all of which was for their sins, moral decline, and rebellion against God, came a lesson, mercy, and hope!

The song ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ used by churches, Christians, and ministries since it was published is a song taken from one of the greatest, most sorrowful time in Judah’s history. The city was ravished, the wall destroyed, the temple demolished, the holy things taken, the priests, rulers, and people taken captive. It is hard to imagine anyone saying of God “Great is thy faithfulness” when all you have known is destroyed!  I wonder how many Christians today could really say the same thing if their cities, houses, towns, and nation called America was ravished like Judah and Jerusalem was?

The verses of this song “Great is thy faithfulness” precede a heart rendering account. It says in verse one of Lamentations chapter 3, “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.” The sheer terror of ignoring Gods warnings are seen here. It should be a warning to America, the church, and all people everywhere of the ‘Day of the LORD’. Paul said it this way “knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men-2 Cor 5:11.” Paul being a student of Gamaliel and one well studied, knew Jewish history very well. He could recount it and knew, especially after becoming a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ that one did well who monitored in his life a healthy and biblical ‘fear of the Lord’.

Lamentations 3:1
¶I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

I am troubled when many congregations in the church don’t know true historical events, nor sing the old hymns anymore. It is possible that they either don’t understand them or the light on a particular item has not revealed it yet.  Many times we do not know the background from whence a certain phrase of a song came from, nor of the context of that verse as it is found in the bible.

Many times we find that the ‘faith’ sung about in our churches are not in true co-relation to the song itself nor of its author. I speak directly to the older hymns here. Many of these old hymns came from the heart and were born out of tough times. These depicted saints finding faith, strength, and hope in God amidst the troubled seas in their lives. These songs have come out of favor it seems with others having replaced them. The church today has seen a time of growth in wealthy and prosperous times which makes it hard for people to relate to these older songs of faith. Today, simply put, until recently, we have had more than the ‘heart could wish for’. Literally, our “eyes” bulge out with fatness for all that we have. But these songs were born in the most grave of situations which required faith in the Lord God to deliver them.

Moreover, the authors of these old hymns found living day to day, hour by hour, minute by minute an experience that required the need for God to deliver them. It is in this which the individual author through his experiences found hope amidst tragedy, faith in turmoil, deliverance in bloodshed, redemption in loss, and a God experience that brought forth joy with gladness.  These are songs born in the heart and soul, anointed by the Lord. They give us a message as we walk our own path.

It is in this song “Great is thy Faithfulness” that we find such faith and vision of heart. The very words are taken from lamentations, saying  further “It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed”.  God could of absolutely destroyed them all, but he did not. He could of raised up someone else to inherit the blessings of Abraham but he did not. In the midst of horrific judgment Jeremiah saw it all and in this he could still see Gods Faithfulness even though it brought him to his knees. It is this phrase which points out his faith but unless you understand what he experienced, you cannot fully appreciate this song. These words were born amidst the judgment in Judah, the destruction of the Temple, the devastation upon the people and city. Jeremiah understood it all. He had hope, repentance, sorrow, and had experienced it all in this judgment. He knew darkness, saw foreign armies invade his city and hometown.  He saw his temple destroyed, and the people taken captive. The prophet of sorrow as Jeremiah was called warned and warned yet the Priest, Prophets, People, and Leaders ignored his direct warnings of Judgment by the Lord. At this time there were others who believed as did Jeremiah and I am sure they too saw that the nation would not repent. For Jeremiah and others who were walking in the ways of the Lord, the judgment would come. Yet in all this each person could indeed say “The Lord is my portion, I will hope in him.” I ask you now “if the same thing happened to America could we truly be reflecting the same faith as this song illustrates?” Could we say, even if judgment hit America, “Great is thy Faithfulness Oh Lord, It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed?”

This is the end of the matter, “Great is thy Faithfulness”, ‘even among strangers’!  Yes, even among strangers, Israel and Judah both had become a stranger to the Lord God. They did not know him, nor believe his judgment would come. But in this judgment, the Lord God sent mercy amidst his judgment. Even among strangers, the Lord God did not annihilate nor completely destroy his people who had become strangers.  For these had brought judgment upon themselves for their ‘moral collapse’. So too, if we do not change and repent for our immorality, this could be our epitaph as well. Again I ask you will we be able to sing “Great is thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me?”

The Author recalled to mind how he felt and what happened. In this short discourse before the well known verse “Great is thy faithfulness”, he recalls it. Read it and then ask yourself, what if this happened to me?

Lamentations 3:2
He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

Lamentations 3:3
Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

Lamentations 3:4
My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

Lamentations 3:5
He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

Lamentations 3:6
He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

Lamentations 3:7
He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
Lamentations 3:8
Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

Lamentations 3:9
He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

Lamentations 3:10
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

Lamentations 3:11
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

Lamentations 3:12
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

Lamentations 3:13
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

Lamentations 3:14
I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

Lamentations 3:15
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

Lamentations 3:16
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

Lamentations 3:17
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

Lamentations 3:18
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:

Lamentations 3:19
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

Lamentations 3:20
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

Lamentations 3:21
¶This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.