New Every Morning

When I was a child and upset at night about what happened during the day, my mother often told me, "Things will look better in the morning." She was right. Day dawned and things weren't as bad as I had imagined them.

Thomas O. Chisholm understood this when he wrote Great Is Thy Faithfulness. The hymn is based on Ecclesiastes 3:22-23:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Just who is this God on whom we depend? He's not fickle - he's faithful. Completely faithful. We may have faithful friends, but they aren't beside us 24/7. They can't perfectly understand everything we are going through and can't always work problems out for us. God can. And He does.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever will be.

Every morning His mercies are new for us. Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman who spent time in a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews, told a story her father told her when she was worried. He asked her when he gave her the ticket for the train. She answered that he gave it to her right before she needed it. Her father compared that to God - each new morning, just when we need it, He will provide whatever we require. What a wonderful analogy.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Whenever the sun rises, whenever the seasons change, whenever the birds sing in the trees, that is a testament to God's faithfulness to his promises. As children, we're told not to make promises you can't keep. We're human and we don't always keep our word. God always does. Look out your window and remember how much He loves us.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Of course, the greatest promise He kept was to send His son to die for our sins. He has vowed to give us eternal paradise.

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. John 6:40

He will be faithful to that promise. What a wonderful assurance that is.