On one of my walks around the first floor of the large headquarters building where I have had the privilege to work for the past 17 years, I had another idea for a series of articles. What if I found a classic hymn that I’ve sung on many Sundays over the years and tied it to some of the timeless principles from the practical theology of work that might inspire Christian workers on Monday?
Here is the first installment, based on my absolute favorite hymn. I was first exposed to it in college. For me, this song is right up there with “Amazing Grace,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “How Great Thou Art.” It is on my short list of hymns that I want to be sung at my funeral.
As I quietly sang the lyrics to this masterpiece that zeroes in on one of the most important divine attributes, God’s faithfulness, it was obvious to me that the words of this song have application to what we do at work. Let me expand a bit on this so you can take this hymn to work with you.
Verse 1
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 wilt be.
This worshipful hymn begins by declaring one of the most relevant and meaningful attributes of God that should be at the forefront of every Christian’s mind and experience. God’s faithfulness is a word that simply describes His perfect record of keeping every promise He has ever made.
What does this verse have to do with my career and where I work from 9 to 5?
Without thinking too hard, it is clear that God faithfully kept His promises to provide for my financial needs. Since He never changes, I can trust Him to continue to provide for me and my family throughout my career. Just as God was present with Joseph wherever He worked and blessed those around him (see Gen. 39:2, 21), He will continue to do the same with us now.
Chorus
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!
The chorus to this song comes straight out of Lam. 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.” The context of this verse is a reflection by the prophet Jeremiah of great national and personal suffering after the Jews were taken into captivity. The only way he was able to get through the trials and find hope was to call to mind God’s love and faithfulness (Lam. 3:19-21).
The chorus declares, “morning by morning new mercies I see.” I had never given that line much thought. Obviously, God continues to reveal Himself in new ways through the living and written Word of God and by His Holy Spirit as we grow in grace over the years. His mercy is one of His divine attributes most Christians know quite well. But how is it that we can see new mercies?
We see God’s mercy in a fresh way as it applies to our own sins, many of which we commit at work. Since I sin in new ways each day, I need a fresh dose of God’s mercy to cover it. Although all my sins are already forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I still need to see and hear the good news of His mercy to keep me in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are reminded that God has provided everything we need for our jobs. He designed us for it, He prepared us to do it through life experiences, He opened doors for us to enter and receive further training or education if required, He got us the job, and He takes us through every trial.
Verse 2
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.
The hymn writer reflects on God’s faithfulness as it is manifested in the predictable seasons that have been in place since the creation. We see God’s hand of blessing, sustaining life here so that we can then function as His coworkers to help sustain the creation. Whenever we look above us, around us, or below us, we see God’s handiwork, which was lovingly made for our benefit. The psalmist announces, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Ps. 19:1). God graciously reveals Himself to us to remind us that He has it all in control.
Whatever season of life we find ourselves in over the course of our 40 to 50-year careers, we can rest in the fact that God is with us, whatever we are going through. From beginning to end, we know that God has a divine plan and a purpose for the thorns and thistles we go through at work. These trials build up our faith in Christ. They give us an opportunity to trust God and draw near to Him, to boldly approach the throne of grace and receive all the strength we need (Heb. 4:16).
I often reflect on what I went through in my “summer” season as a young man who was working hard to pursue what I perceived to be a calling to youth ministry. I had no way of knowing then what I know now. When God abruptly closed that door to complete my seminary education, which forced me to look to the military as a viable path to support my family, he had opened a door which brought many blessings to me, my family, and countless others over the past 40 years.
Verse 3
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!
This last verse brings it down from the theological to the practical. It focuses on what we can experience day by day in the real world, especially at work. God’s faithfulness shows up when we need it most.
I’ve already addressed the idea that we can see God’s mercy on display in new ways as we deal with our sins. This verse reminds us of the related fact that pardon for all of our sins, past, present, and future, is given by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. This state of complete forgiveness (i.e., no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; see Rom. 8:1) allows us to know and fellowship with God every day. As a result, we not only have peace with God (Rom. 5:1), we can also find peace that comes from God that “passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7).
Just because our sins are completely forgiven in Christ does not mean that we do not need to continually confess them to God when the Holy Spirit brings them to mind. (Notice the direct involvement of each member of the Trinity in our daily faith walk.) Whenever I am made aware of my sin at work, I do well to confess it sooner than later (1 John 1:9). We confess not to receive forgiveness; we already have it. We do it to restore our fellowship with God. Then, we can move on. (See Ps. 32:3-5.) (Note: I encourage you to read an article I wrote, “Next Slide.”)
At the end of this verse, we sing about God’s faithfulness as it is expressed towards us to give us strength when we are weak and a positive outlook when things don’t look so good. Isn’t this just what we need at work? And, to top it off, we know that God’s blessings never stop coming to us.
Closing thoughts
I hope that what you just read above helped you to see clearly how this hymn that you may have sung on Sunday morning is relevant to what you do at work on Monday morning.
This hymn focuses on God’s faithfulness and how we see various aspects of it in our daily lives. When we take this hymn with us, and intentionally remind ourselves whenever we need it, that God has always been faithful to meet our needs, is present here now with us no matter what we are going through, and since He does not change, He will always keep His promises to us.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Russ Gehrlein
Featured Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay
