Music by William M. Runyan, 1925 (1870-1957)

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.

Refrain

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!

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.

Refrain

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!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

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!

     In 1923 Thomas Chisholm sent this hymn to his coworker, William M. Runyan, who set it to music. Chisholm was an ordained Methodist minister and, later, an insurance agent. Of the more than 1,200 poems he wrote, some 800 were published and a number set to music by some of the best-known gospel song composers of that time. Chisholm died in 1960.

     William Runyan was the son of a Methodist minister, and became an ordained Methodist minister himself. He showed great musical talent in his youth, playing the organ for church at age 12. Unfortunately, he developed deafness in his later years. He died in 1957.