In 1866, a man named Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born. He did not come from wealth, nor did he belong to a prominent or influential family. His early life was marked by simplicity and hardship rather than privilege. Yet at the age of twenty‑seven, something profound happened: he committed his life to the Lord. Nine years later, at thirty‑six, he was ordained into Christian ministry. His time in ministry, however, was short‑lived. Poor health forced him to resign after only a year.
But although his physical strength failed him, his spiritual life remained vibrant, steady, and deeply rooted in Scripture. One passage in particular became a source of immense comfort to him—Lamentations 3:22–23:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Chisholm not only loved Scripture; he also had a gift for words. He often wrote poems inspired by biblical passages, weaving theology and devotion into verse. In 1925, reflecting on the words from Lamentations, he penned what would become one of the most beloved hymns in Christian history: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
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, thoust forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness.
Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, you mercies I see.
All I have needed, thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
A few years later, his poem was set to music, and the hymn has since been sung by countless congregations around the world. Its message resonates because it echoes the testimony of so many believers: God’s provision, God’s mercy, and God’s unwavering faithfulness throughout every season of life. All we have needed, His hand has provided.
This theme of remembrance and divine faithfulness is also central to Joshua chapter 4, where the people of Israel stand on the brink of a long‑awaited promise. After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they are finally about to enter the land God had promised to Abraham centuries earlier. It is a moment of transition—new land, new leadership, new challenges, and new tests. Before them lies the first major obstacle: the flooded River Jordan.
In Joshua 3, God instructs Joshua to command the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the overflowing river. As soon as the priests step into the water, the river stops flowing and piles up at a great distance upstream. The Ark—overlaid with gold, heavy, and sacred—is carried into the very centre of the riverbed. If I were one of those priests, I’m not sure I would have been thrilled about stepping into a flooded river while carrying something so precious and weighty. But the moment their feet touched the water, God acted.
As the entire nation crossed the river on dry ground, God gave Joshua another instruction: choose twelve men, one from each tribe, and have each man take a large stone from the riverbed. These were not small pebbles to slip into a pocket; they were heavy stones to be carried on their shoulders. The people carried them from the Jordan to their camp at Gilgal, roughly eight miles away. There the stones were arranged into a memorial—a visible reminder of what God had done.
But there were actually two memorials. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the very place where the priests had stood. When the waters returned, the stones remained beneath the surface, a hidden yet enduring testimony to God’s power.
These memorials were not decorative. They were meant to provoke remembrance. They were meant to spark questions in future generations: “What do these stones mean?” And the answer would be clear: “They remind us that the Lord our God brought us safely across the Jordan. They remind us of His faithfulness.”
As Christians, we are often encouraged to remember certain things and to forget others. We are told to forget the sins that God has forgiven, to leave behind the failures that He has redeemed. Yet we are also called to remember His goodness, His provision, and His faithfulness. There are dates we never forget—weddings, anniversaries, national moments of silence, tragedies that shaped our world. There are places that trigger memories, sometimes of danger, sometimes of deliverance. And in all these moments, we can trace the hand of God.
The stones at Gilgal served three purposes, and these same purposes speak to us today.
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The Stones Remind Us of God’s Promises
God had made a covenant with His people. He promised to bless them, to be with them, and to give them the land. A promise is only as reliable as the one who makes it. Human promises fail, but God’s promises do not.
Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly assured His people of His presence. To Isaac He said, “I will be with you and bless you.” To Jacob He said, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”
During the wilderness years, God’s presence was visible in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Even at the Jordan, the Ark—the symbol of God’s presence—stood in the middle of the river as the people crossed. Every time Israel passed the memorial stones, they were reminded: God keeps His promises.
Jesus echoes this same assurance when He says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” God’s faithfulness to Israel is the same faithfulness He extends to us.
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The Stones Remind Us to Be Prepared
Crossing the Jordan was not the end of Israel’s journey; it was the beginning of a new chapter. Ahead of them were battles, giants, fortified cities, and challenges they could not yet see.
Some tribes—Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh—had already received land on the east side of the Jordan, but they were still required to cross over and help their brothers secure their inheritance. Forty thousand warriors crossed the river armed for battle.
The memorial stones reminded them that although God was faithful, they still needed to be prepared, courageous, and obedient. The same is true for us. God’s faithfulness does not eliminate challenges; it equips us to face them.
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The Stones Remind Us of Our Purpose
Every time Israel returned to Gilgal, the stones confronted them with a question: Why are we here? Their purpose was not simply to settle but to possess the land and to live as God’s covenant people.
In the same way, God has a purpose for us. Peter writes that we are living stones, being built into a spiritual house. God continues to build memorials of His faithfulness—not with physical stones, but with people whose lives testify to His grace.
Even the church building we sit in today is a kind of memorial. It stands because someone believed God was calling them to create a place where the gospel could be proclaimed. We are here because of someone’s faithfulness.
So the question becomes: What does your memorial look like? What stories of God’s faithfulness are etched into your life? What moments can you point to and say, “God was with me there”? These are the testimonies we carry into the world.