Great is Thy Faithfulness

Scripture – Lamentations 3:19-23 (NRSV)

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
+++is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it
+++and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
+++and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
+++his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
+++great is your faithfulness.

Devotion

Lamentations 3:22-23 has inspired many songs and hymns. For example, one of the earliest and most popular praise songs was based on this text: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end . . . .” Similarly, the classic hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” puts into poetry the assurances of Lamentations 3:22-23. The refrain of this hymn proclaims: “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!”

“Great is Thy Faithfulness” is my favorite hymn. I’ve loved it since I was in my twenties. I’ve sung it in some of the happiest and hardest occasions of my life. I sang this hymn with rejoicing in my wedding and my ordination service. I sang this hymn with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy in the memorial services for my father and my mother.

My father died at a relatively young age (54) after suffering terribly with liver cancer. My family and I watched in horror as he wasted away. It was excruciating, one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced. There were many times when I questioned God’s faithfulness. God certainly didn’t feel faithful in those moments. God’s mercies weren’t new every morning, but far, far away.

Yet, even in the midst of my dad’s suffering and my family’s sorrow, there were times when God let us know that he was still with us, still loving us, still faithful. Sometimes this reassurance would come in moments of quiet, solitary prayer. Sometimes it would come through the love of a sister or brother in Christ. For example, I have a good friend who is pretty stoic when it comes to expressing emotions. One day he reached out to me, asking, “Mark, how are you doing with what’s happening to your father?” I could feel his tender heart, even if his expression was relatively guarded. I told him how things were going, how hard they were. As he listened, I could see tears in his eyes. “I am so, so sorry,” he said, before giving me an awkward hug. Through the kindness of this friend, I could feel God’s presence and compassion. For a moment, I could even believe that God’s faithfulness was indeed great.

Ironically, when we sing songs like “The Steadfast Love of the Lord” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness” in the midst of loss and grief, we are in a similar position to the writer of Lamentations. He and his people had suffered and were suffering horribly. At one point, the writer had lost his hope in God. He wrote, “Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the LORD” (Lamentations 3:18). Yet, as he remembered the Lord, he found the ability to celebrate God’s love and compassion in some of the most prized words in all of Scripture.

Thus, Lamentations 3:22-23, when read in context, inspires us to confess God’s faithfulness, not only in times of blessing and joy, but also in times of pain and sorrow. Like the writer of Lamentations, in the midst of our struggle we call to mind who God is and how much God cares for us. This gives us hope even in the midst of what feels like hopelessness.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the High Calling archive, hosted by the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Discovering the Power of Singing to God

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