by Darren Glenewinkel
This hymn is a reminder to all of the Lord God’s immutability. The very words were penned by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm in the year 1923. According to Chisholm, there was no particular reason or special circumstances for writing this hymn – just his experience and Bible truth.
A teacher by trade, Chisholm taught in a little country school. He had no high school or other specialized training for this profession. Later he became the editor of the local newspaper Franklin Favorite at the age of twenty-one.
At age 27, he placed his faith in Christ while attending a revival meeting, directed by Dr. H.C. Morrison, held in his hometown of Franklin, Kentucky. Morrison later invited Chisholm to become editor and business manager of his Pentecostal Herald newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.
Chisholm later became an ordained Methodist minister but due to ill health left the ministry and became a life insurance agent instead. During this time he began writing sacred poems. Out of twelve hundred poems he wrote in his lifetime, hundreds appeared in religious publications. This most renowned hymn was based on Lamentations 3:22-24. The text of this beloved hymn was therefore formed.
For more information on Thomas Chisholm Click Here
The composer of this hymn was the Reverend William Marion Runyan. Runyan wrote the music specifically for these words that were penned by Chisholm. This hymn first appeared in the Baptist Hymnal in the year 1956.
Runyan said about this hymn “this poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carry its message in a worthy way, and the subsequent history of its use indicates that God answered prayer.”
Runyan was born on January 21, 1870 in Marion, New York; and died on July 29, 1957 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
The unofficial hymn of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, this hymn was compiled in 1923 and first appeared in Songs of Salvation and Service. The very popular hymn portraying the faithfulness of God has become a beloved favorite of believers in Christ through ages past and even into the present time. An unchanging God is a steadfast stronghold to an ever-changing man.
Bibliography:
Forrest M. McCann, Hymns and History, ACU Press, Abilene, TX, copyright 1997 pp. 127 &128.
Paul Davis, Inspirational Hymn & Song Stories, Ambassador Publications, Belfast Ireland, copyright 2001, pp. 84-86
http://www.cyberhymnal.or/htm/g/i/gisthyf.htm
http://www.preciouslordtakemyhand.com/christianhymns/greatisthy.html
http://www.truthinhistory.org/faithfulness.htm
Picture: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/i/gisthyf.htm
