The Hymnal That Survived the Fire

On March 14, 1990, a fire swept through Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, gutting the sanctuary that had held generations of worship since 1808. Firefighters pulled charred pews and melted fixtures from the wreckage. But when deacon Harold Carter sifted through the debris three days later, he found a hymnal — singed at the edges, spine cracked, but still legible. He opened it to a page someone had dog-eared long ago. The hymn was "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

Carter wept. Not because the building was gone, but because the song was still there.

When David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem in 1 Chronicles 16, Israel had endured decades of wandering, warfare, and fractured worship. The Ark itself had been captured by the Philistines, mishandled, and nearly forgotten. Yet David stood before it and sang, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."

David was not praising God because everything had gone smoothly. He was praising God because through every disaster, exile, and loss, the steadfast love of the Almighty had not been consumed. It outlasted every fire.