What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Strength in Hymn)

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

by Joseph Scriven, 1855

What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.

O what peace we often forfeit

O what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

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.

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.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing

all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded

there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship

will be our sweet portion there.

 

The Story Behind the Hymn:  Joseph Scriven, no stranger to grief himself (two fiances died) wrote this as a poem of comfort for his ailing mother back home in Ireland when he was living in Canada. He never married, and spent most of his life spreading the love and compassion of Jesus to those less fortunate. You can read the story here: What a Friend We Have in Jesus, The Story and the Song.

Why I Picked This Hymn:  

Like many of the other hymns in this series, this is one I sang quite often with my own children when they were younger. It is now all the more poignant to me as I have gone through so many more "sins and griefs" since then. During times of disillusionment, I would think, "At least there is Jesus. I can do life with Jesus. He is good and kind." At times, it was all I could do to say, "Dear sweet Jesus, help me. Have mercy on me."

This morning as I drove to work, I reflected on yet another story of abuse in a prominent conservative ministry. Tears came to my eyes thinking of those families who have been hurt and even destroyed over the course of decades through legalistic authoritarian teaching coupled with credible reports of immorality among leaders. My heart is so heavy just thinking of it. Yes, my own family was negatively affected too. Even though we were never close followers of the organization, its influence permeated some of the churches we attended, as well as the home schooling movement for the 20+ years we did that. What is particularly sad to me is that this is not the only group or leader with this magnitude of problems. One by one they go down - after they've already taken so many others down in the process. "Dear sweet Jesus, help us. Have mercy on us all."  

To be honest, the temptation for so many of us is to throw away Christianity as corrupt. Maybe not trashing Jesus himself - we will consider keeping him, though sometimes at a bit more of a distance. But we just can't bear all the flawed people who claim to follow him but lead others astray, all the people who claim to have all the right answers but haven't even learned to ask the right questions yet.

But pitching our shared community of faith is not the answer, even if we need to move on to another congregation for our own spiritual sanity. If anything, we need more people who follow and exalt Jesus rather than human leaders. We need more people who give their lives away in humble compassion, rather than grabbing for power and prestige in the name of piety. We need more people to bring us the authentic Jesus rather than a system of rigid rules and regulations. Let's be those people for others.

The call in this hymn is to prayer. Through the gracious gift of prayer, we bring it all to our dear friend Jesus - all the doubt, all the pain, all the anxiety, all the fear, all of whatever we can't even name. We bring that and then we sing, sing this sweet old hymn into our souls, whether in sound or in sacred silence. Let's take these vintage words and reclaim them for a new generation.

About the Photos:  All of the pictures in this post were taken at Lake Giles in Orlando when I went to a silent Refresh Retreat hosted by my friend Sandy. The rippled clouds caught my attention, as did the trees. Sometimes we soar upward into the sky like the tall palms. Sometimes we hang down low in grief, like the weeping willow. Sometimes we are all tangled up like the branches in one photo, and other times we're stuck in the mud like reeds. Wherever we are, Jesus is our blessed and precious friend, and he will help us.  

You might like these posts about the retreat: Kaleidoscope and Refresh Retreat. 





Other related posts on my blogs:

• Strength in Hymn series index
• Shimmer and Shadow (Poem)
• Disillusioned and Disappointed? Take It to Jesus!
• It Became to Me a Dark Thing (Poem)
• O God, Our Help in Ages Past (Strength in Hymn)
• Sweet Hour of Prayer (Strength in Hymn)
• Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (Strength in Hymn)
• I Dare Not Trust the Sweetest Frame? (Strength in Hymn)
• Dignity, Decisions, and Liberty of Conscience
• Gleaning Encouragement from Scriptures in Times of Disillusionment
• Recovering, Still...
• Lord, Have Mercy!
• Pilgrimage and Jubilee

On other sites, a little background to this story:

• The Gothard Files: A Case for Disqualification

• Vision Forum and Friends: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Shalom,
Virginia Knowles
www.WatchTheShepherd.blogspot.com