What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Joseph M. Scriven's beautiful hymn of Jesus' friendship was born out of a life of tragedy. And the song was almost lost in history! Thankfully his friend chanced upon the lyrics, and now we can be comforted by the beautiful words he wrote.
Perhaps one of the most endearing and enduring hymns that's ever been written is today's Friday Classic Hymn: What a Friend We Have in Jesus. It's brought many people comfort and support in their times of difficulty.
What memories do you have of this hymn? I'd love to hear them if you could write them in the comments below. I've sung it many times in church, but I remember in particular singing it during the lockdowns when we were doing digital services, sending out video services. I remember doing this for one of those services that really meant a lot to me. Share your own memories below—I'd love to read them. Now let's get into the very sad history of a beautiful song.
The Story Behind "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
The author of What a Friend We Have in Jesus was Joseph M. Scriven. He was born in Ireland in 1820 and had a bright future ahead of him, but his plans for a military career ended up not working out because of bad health. Then, tragically, the night before his wedding, Scriven's fiancée was drowned. In his grief, trying to get over this, he relocated, moving from Ireland to Canada.
He worked as a tutor but did a lot of work amongst the poor and the struggling in that area. He had a deep Christian faith that led to this lifestyle of giving compassion towards those in need, to the amusement of some of his friends, in fact.
Then, very sadly, tragedy struck again because he was engaged for a second time, and his fiancée ended up dying after a very brief illness. This poor man struggled and faced a lot of depression as a result of these tragedies in his life. Sadly, at the age of 46, he was found drowned—nobody's quite sure if it was an accident or if it was perhaps suicide.
Shortly before he died, a friend was visiting him. As he was going through some of his notes and things around his bedside (because he wasn't very well, he was quite sick), this friend happened upon this verse: What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Amazed by what he just read, his friend asked him where this came from, if he had written it himself. Scriven famously replied, "The Lord and I wrote it between us."
Then he explained that he'd written this poem, in fact, for his mother back in Ireland who was struggling with her own difficulties and storms in life. He wrote this beautiful poem just for her, sent it off to her, and didn't think much more about it.
Thankfully, this friend of his got hold of this poem—otherwise it would probably be lost to history. Doesn't that make you wonder what amazing works have been lost to history because people have kept them to themselves instead of sharing them? Thank God that his friend happened upon these words so that you and I can get the comfort from the words of this powerful hymn. I know that I have been comforted many times singing this song, as I'm sure you have.
A sad story indeed—Scriven's own difficult life—but thank God that you and I have been able to benefit from the beautiful words that he wrote.
What Do the Lyrics of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" Mean?
Verse 1: "What a friend we have in Jesus"
What a friend we have in Jesus—that emphasis on Jesus' friendship is lovely, isn't it? It reminds me of Jesus' own words to His disciples when He said to them, "I no longer call you servants, but I've called you friends."
That is what it's all about—that sweet friendship with Jesus. Not just our Lord and Saviour (though, of course, He is), but He's our friend. It's sweet, it's fulfilling to know that we don't have to cower in fear all the time before God, but we can come to Him as a wonderful, reliable, faithful friend.
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
Now, 1 Peter 2:24 talks about how Jesus bore our sins, and of course He did that on the cross. He took our sins on His shoulders so that we can be free of their guilt. That's the gospel—that's amazing! He bore our sins. Do you know that today? That this Jesus took on our sins so that we don't have to face their punishment?
But Jesus doesn't bear our griefs in quite the same way. He doesn't take away our griefs, but He does carry them on His shoulders alongside us. You know, Paul spoke about how Christians bear each other's burdens, and that doesn't mean that the burden disappears off the person who is suffering with it, but that as friends in faith we help each other through and lighten the load. Jesus does that—even though He doesn't just take away all of our difficulties, He helps us through them in an amazing way. He bears them with us.
What a friend! That's something that any true friend does, isn't it? Jesus, the friend of all friends, bears our burdens with us, our griefs.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Have you ever thought of prayer as a privilege? A privilege is a special right given to somebody, and of course prayer is a special privilege of those who belong to Christ. Now, anybody can pray—you don't have to call yourself a Christian to pray. However, for prayer to be effective, you need faith. You need to believe in Jesus as your friend and as your Saviour and as your Lord. Then it becomes a privilege when you realise that He is who He is—great and mighty and awesome—and yet He gives us this opportunity to spend time with Him.
You realise what a privilege it is to bring your burdens to Him in prayer. You know what? It's a privilege we don't take advantage of enough.
Scriven said in the next verse: O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
If prayer took its place at the top of our priorities, maybe we would have more peace and more joy. Maybe our pain would be less because we are shouldering that burden with Jesus instead of by ourselves. Maybe this song should always remind us that we can go to God in prayer, and our burdens would be lighter because He would help us carry them as we take them to Him in prayer.
Verse 2: "Have we trials and temptations?"
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
Those three T's—we all face those three T's: trials (difficult testing times in our lives), temptations (the enemy's little arrows trying to pull us away from God), trouble (hard times and difficulties and storms). Of course there are trials and temptations and troubles all the time in our lives.
He says this is what you do if you're facing one of those: We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer!
Christians should never be discouraged by our trials, our temptations, and our troubles, because we are the type of people who always take them to God in prayer. That's the answer.
When we do that, when we take our trials and all those things to God in prayer, we find that He is a faithful friend who shares our sorrows. That's what he says next: Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
What a beautiful line—Jesus faithfully sharing in our sorrows. Maybe you need to hear today that He is willing to share your sorrows, that He is willing to enter into your sorrow with you. Do you believe that God does that? He enters into your pain, into your sorrow, with you.
I believe He does. I've experienced it in my own life. Know it today: that when you take your troubles to Him in prayer and your sorrows, He shares in them with you so that you can get through them.
Because, as Scriven says, Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer!
You know, He knows what you struggle with. He knows your frailties, your weaknesses, your ups and downs. He knows what types of things trip you up. How we need Him to help us through, to get us through these times! Somebody who knows us so well can really give us the strength that we need to get through.
Verse 3: "Are we weak and heavy laden?"
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
I think of Scriven, with all the sorrow in his own life, feeling weak, feeling laden with care and burdens. Maybe you feel the same today—there's a lot on your shoulders. Well, if you are, if you're loaded down with heavy struggles, Scriven reminds us: Precious Saviour, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer!
He's still your refuge. You can still take it to Him in prayer. If you're carrying heavy loads, it doesn't mean He's abandoned you. He's still your safe place, your refuge, and He will help you through these difficult times if you take it to Him in prayer.
Even, Scriven says, if your closest companions don't get you: Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
This reminds me of some of David's Psalms where he said, "Even my best friend avoids me on the street." He went through difficult times, and so did this man who wrote this song.
Even if you have no earthly companions, you can still go to God. Even if you're forsaken by people in your life, you can still take it to Jesus, your faithful friend. Jesus knows what it is to be betrayed by a friend—remember Judas kissing Him on the cheek? You can go to Jesus if you feel betrayed and forsaken by people, because Jesus knows what it's like, and He'll be there to help you deal with it.
As the last line says: In His arms He'll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.
He will hold you in His arms. He will protect you. He will shield you. He will give you comfort. There's nothing like being held by the warm embrace of Jesus.
Don't miss out on this—go to Him in prayer. That's the message of this hymn: go to Him and sit with Him in prayer and pour your sorrows and your troubles out, and He will hold you, He will comfort you, and He will give you solace and help that only He can bring.
Conclusion
What a beautiful song! What a wonderful song to sing! I hope that every time you sing it, you're reminded to take the time to spend with your precious friend and Saviour, Jesus, who can help you through even the deepest troubles.
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References
1 Peter 2:24 - Jesus bearing our sins
John 15:15 - "I no longer call you servants, but friends"
Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another's burdens
