What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Words: Joseph M. Scriven
Music: Charles C. Converse
1
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh what peace we often forfeit!
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
2
Have we trials and temptations
Is there trouble anywhere
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer
3
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee
Thou wilt find a solace there

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴
This great hymn richly reflects the comfort and peace that God can give in times of grief and despair written by a young Irishman, Joseph Scriven, who after receiving his degree in Trinity College, had planned on marrying his childhood love. However, a tragedy happened on the day before the wedding. His fiancé rode to meet him then terrifyingly, the horse was startled and the young woman was thrown into the river, drowned shortly and died.

Distressed, Joseph left Ireland and spent his life in Ontario, Canada, in the town of Port Hope, devoted to helping poor people in need and those who cannot pay, widows, sick, and children as his commitment in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
Joseph spent years teaching the children in which he fell in love with the captain’s niece, Eliza Rice, and the two planned the wedding. Weeks before the event, Eliza fell sick of pneumonia and passed away at the age of 23. Tragedy, once again, invaded his life and his dreamed wedding.

Despite the loss and anguish, Joseph continued to find solace in God whom he looked upon as his closest friend. He then wrote a poem to his mother in Ireland in which he described the extraordinary friendship that gave him a purpose and promising hope after the pain. The poem, which happened to be the lyrics of this hymn, eventually was released anonymously first and after a decade, Joseph revealed that “he and the Lord had written it together”.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱
You have been through tough times and your faith has been tested. Believe that your pain has a purpose. See God’s calling amid the loneliness. He wants you to be His vessel in fulfilling His ministry. After all, He is the 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 that we couldn’t ask for more.

𝑰𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐?
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