Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Album: Hosanna (1923)
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Songfacts®:

  • Thomas Chisholm (1866 –1960) was an American teacher who had a Christian conversion experience at the age of 27 during a Dr. Henry Clay Morrison led revival. He served as a Methodist minister for a time before resigning due to poor health.
  • Chisholm wrote over 1,200 sacred poems and songs over his lifetime including this one in which he pays tribute to the blessing God has bestowed on him. The phrase "great is thy faithfulness" comes from the Old Testament Book of Lamentations 3:23:

    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
    His mercies never come to an end
    They are new every morning
    Great is your faithfulness
  • Thomas Chisholm wrote the words in 1923. He sent them to his friend William Ruyan, another Methodist minister, who set it to music. It was published that same year by Hope Publishing Company and was soon being sung in churches. It also became a popular hymn at Christian weddings.

    The hymn was exposed to international audiences after being used frequently by Billy Graham during his crusades.
  • Kentucky native Jordan Smith gave a moving rendition of the hymn as part of the live playoffs for the top twelve contestants on the NBC singing competition show The Voice. Smith started singing the tune a cappella before picking up the melody on the piano and accompanying himself through the remainder of the sacred song.

    His rendition, which was transmitted on November 16, 2015, just a few days after the Paris bombings, received a standing ovation. Enough downloads were made in the week after the show to take Smith's performance of the hymn into the Top 30 of the Hot 100.
  • Country star Josh Turner covered this for his 2018 gospel album, I Serve A Savior. "I just made a few minor tweaks to that song lyrically and made it my own and that's a song that I've been familiar with pretty much my whole life growing up in church and singing that song," he told Billboard.
  • For her 2021 gospel album, My Savior, Carrie Underwood recorded a duet version with the gospel star CeCe Winans. The country star's rendition earned her a second GMA Dove Award, taking the 2021 Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year prize. Underwood's previous Dove win was in 2006, for her "Jesus, Take The Wheel" single.

    Winans won four GMA Dove Awards during the ceremony, including Gospel Artist of the Year.

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