God Is Faithful

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Have you ever sung the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”? If you have, you are probably familiar with today’s verses, because Thomas Chisholm wrote the hymn based on Lamentations 3:22-23.

Born in Kentucky in 1866, Thomas was educated in a small country school, and at the age of 16 he became the school’s teacher. Thomas came to know Jesus at the age of 27. He was a pastor for a while, but he was often in poor health.

Thomas always liked to write, and he wrote 1,200 poems. Eight hundred of his poems were published in Sunday school papers and Christian magazines. Some of those poems became hymns. Thomas wrote “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” as a testimony of God’s constant presence through his life and his illnesses.

The prophet Jeremiah was the author of today’s verses. Known as the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah was born during a dark time in Judah’s history when God’s people weren’t listening to God. So he chose Jeremiah to go to the people and tell them to turn back to the Lord. They didn’t listen, so God allowed them to be taken captive by another country.

It was during this captivity that Jeremiah penned the words, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lamentations 3:20-23).

Even when God’s people aren’t faithful to him, he loves them and shows compassion toward them. He never tires of being faithful or having mercy on his people. God’s faithfulness gave Jeremiah hope. He remembered that he needed to depend on the Lord and trust in him even though outward circumstances looked bleak.

You may have good days and bad days in your faith journey. Some days it’s much easier to see God at work than others. But good days or bad, God is faithful, and his faithfulness gives hope. It allows you to know that no matter what happens, God is in control and at work. He has a plan for each thing that happens.

Have a parent help you find the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” online, and listen to the hymn together. What do today’s verses mean for you?