Dear Listeners Friends,
Welcome to our podcast 愛的凱歌Adore Him. My name is Judy, and today we are excited to feature a hymn that you might be familiar with called "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". This hymn was written by Thomas O. Chisholm and composed by Willian Runyan.
Thomas Chisholm was a prolific hymn writer who wrote about 1,200 hymns in his lifetime. "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is one of his most well-known works, and it is loved by people worldwide. Chisholm was born in Kentucky, USA, in 1866. He started working as a schoolteacher when he was 16 and later became an associate editor of his hometown newspaper at the age of 21. When he was 27 years old, he became a follower of Christ, and ten years later, he was ordained as a full-time Methodist minister.
Unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse, and he had to quit his service as a local church minister within a year of being ordained. He and his family then moved to a countryside farm in Illinois to improve his health. Over the years, he faced financial difficulties due to numerous hospital bills and health issues. He found a job selling life insurance to make ends meet. He worked hard and retired at the age of 87. In his final years, he wrote a letter to a friend, expressing how God's great faithfulness, love, and mercy had always been with him. He often reflected on his favorite biblical passage in Lamentations 3:22-24: "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. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'"
At the end of this episode, we invite you to listen to the Piano Duets version of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." We hope you enjoyed this episode, and we will see you next Thursday!
❤️ We welcome feedback and comments: https://open.firstory.me/story/clrq2cwjl01k401v51igm6r6f?m=comment
❤️ 愛的凱歌 Adore Him: https://he-is-the-one-we-adore.firstory.io/
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Hi, 各位聽眾朋友們，平安！歡迎收聽愛的凱歌(Adore Him)。我是Judy。今天要和大家分享的聖詩是〈祢的信實廣大〉(“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”)。
Thomas O. Chisholm是聖詩〈祢的信實廣大〉(“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”)的作詞者。Thomas一生寫過大約1200首的聖詩，其中最被大眾所熟悉的聖詩，就是〈祢的信實廣大〉。1866年，Thomas出生在美國肯德基州的富蘭克林。16歲成為學校老師，21歲成為當地報社的副主編，27歲他參加當地舉辦的基督教奮興會，回應神的呼召，決志禱告，承認並接受耶穌基督為他的救主。之後，他有了想全職服事神的心願，37歲時，Thomas被按立爲衛理公會的牧師。可是牧會僅僅一年，他身體健康出現嚴重的問題，以致於他無法繼續在教會侍奉。從教會辭職後，Thomas和家人從肯德基搬家到印第安納州，居住在一個農場養病。因為健康問題，隨之而來的是醫院的帳單，家庭生活開銷的經濟壓力。他後來選擇當保險推銷員這種時間比較彈性的職業，直到87歲才退休。
Thomas晚年曾經在寫給朋友的一封信中提到，由於很久以前自己的身體健康出了問題，所以經濟狀況在過去任何時間裡從來沒有好過，然而，他從未懷疑過上帝的信實與慈愛。反倒他向朋友見證，他一生中常常是虛弱無力，甚至發病時，躺在床上一連好幾天，什麼都不能做，但他卻無數次經歷上帝對他的愛護。他心中實在充滿無比的感謝。他告白：上帝是守約施慈愛，信實的神。這封給朋友的信，反應了Thomas最喜歡的一段聖經經文，記載在耶利米哀歌3: 22-24「我們不致消滅，是出於耶和華諸般的慈愛，是因祂的憐憫，不至斷絕。每早晨都是新的，祢的誠實極其廣大。我心裡說：『耶和華是我的分，因此，我要仰望祂。」」
Thomas1923年寫了〈祢的信實廣大〉(“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”)，並寫信邀請William Runyan 為這首詩譜寫曲子。William Runyan是當時穆迪聖經學院的音樂老師，也是芝加哥當地一家出版社的編輯。William 當時讀了Thomas的詩時，大為感動，便向神禱告，求神賜給他靈感，希望寫的曲調可以配得上這首詩歌。不久，這首聖詩在穆迪聖經學院受到教師和學生的喜愛。最後，因美國佈道葛理翰牧師(Billy Graham)在福音佈道會中，常使用這首聖詩而被人們所熟悉。
節目尾聲，邀請您一同來聆聽雙鋼琴演奏版本的〈祢的信實廣大〉(“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”)。
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✏️ “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” Sunday Worship For Two, Volume 1: Two Piano Duets
🎼 Music: William Runyan
🎼 Arranged by: Sandra Zylstra
🎼 Performed by: Vivien Lin and Judy Lin
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✏️ 〈祢的信實廣大〉(“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”)
🎼 詞Words: Thomas O. Chisholm
🎼 曲Music: William Runyan
🎼 資料來源/Source: Chen, Lucy, Hsiung, Hsiung, Huang, Huang, Chen, Christ, ed. Hymns for God’s People (New Revised Edition). Taipei, Taiwan: Taiwan Grace, 2019.
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.
祢的信實廣大，我神我天父，
全無轉動影兒，藏在祢心；
祢不改變，祢慈愛永不轉移，
無始無終的神，施恩不盡。
Refrain (副歌)：
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!
祢的信實廣大，祢的信實廣大，
每早晨賜下新豐富恩惠，
我一切需要祢手豐富預備，
祢的信實廣大，顯在我身！
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. [Refrain]
春夏秋冬四季，有栽種收成，
日月星辰時刻，循轉不止；
宇宙萬物，都為造物主見證，
述說天父莫大信實仁慈。
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! [Refrain]
祢赦免我罪愆，賜我永平安，
祢的容光親自，安慰導引；
日日加力，更賜我光明盼望，
祢所賜的恩愛永無止盡！
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✏️ 背景音樂 (Background Music)：
--今天在這裡同在的聖靈
--Performed by Judy Lin
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✏️ 封面照片(Cover Photo): Judy Lin
❤️ 愛的凱歌 Adore Him: https://he-is-the-one-we-adore.firstory.io/
❤️ 留言告訴我你對這一集的想法： https://open.firstory.me/user/clpko33470143010vfumkgdhr/comments
