What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

written by Joseph Scriven (1819-1886)

melody by Charles Converse

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!

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.

Joseph Medicott Scriven was born Sept. 10, 1819 in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1842 and adopted the faith of the Plymouth Brethren. He fell in love with a young lady named Eliza Roche and was to be married. But the night before they were to be wed she was thrown from her horse while crossing a bridge and was drowned. Stricken with grief, the young man moved to Canada.

In the New World, he once more met a young lady, fell in love and was due to be married. But once more, it was not to be. His fiancée, having been baptized in the cold waters of Rice Lake, fell ill of pneumonia and died.

Despite the sadness of his life, he remained faithful to Christ and spent the rest of his life living out the tenets of his Brethren faith and helping others.

It was said of Scriven, “He lived a truly unselfish life, going among the afflicted and comforting the sorrowing, sharing his little with the poverty-stricken.”

http://www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com/html/joseph_scriven.htm

In 1855, his mother in Ireland also became ill and to encourage her he wrote and sent to her a poem entitled, “Pray Without Ceasing.”

I believe this is the only composition attributable to him.

A neighbor, Mr. James Sackville, cared for Scriven when he was old and in poor health. While searching a drawer on behalf of his patient, he came across the poem. When asked how he came to write such a beautiful hymn, Scriven on his deathbed said, “The Lord and I did it between us.”

Shortly before Scriven’s death, the great musical evangelist Ira D. Sankey “discovered” the poem, renamed it and added music. The tune was an older one written by Charles C. Converse. In this format it was included in Sankey’s “Gospel Hymns Number One.

The tune has been kidnapped in numerous versions, notably the song “When This Bloody War is Over,” a bawdy type song sung by British troops during WWI. It can also be found in Japan and Indonesia written with more secular words. There is a German (Amish) version whose theme asks the question “Where is Jesus?”


The Spanish version, "O Que Amigo Nos Es Cristo," retains the poetry of Scrivens' original and is my favorite translation.

Originally published anonymously, it was almost thirty years before Scriven received credit for his work. The first recording of this song was by J.J. Fisher in 1899 as a brown wax cylinder recording. Around 1902 it was transferred to the improved hard black wax cylinders of the Edison Gold Moulded Record series and released as number 7014.

One of the first, if not the first, disk recordings of this poignant gospel song was recorded by Charles Hart (1884-1965). A veteran of opera, vaudeville and stage, Hart had a series of hit recordings both as a solo artist and 1^st tenor in the Shannon Quartet (1917-1923). Hart was a regular recording artist for Edison and Victor records. He recorded What a Friend We Have in Jesus in 1921 (Okeh label #70221-B).

Other notable recordings of What a Friend We Have In Jesus  include those by Elvis Presley (1973), Dolly Parton (1994), Brenda Lee, Merle Haggard, the Oak Ridge Boys, Alan Jackson (2006), Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Burl Ives, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Doc Watson, and Ralph & Carter Stanley.


I'm including Doc Watson's Bristol recording of this song. The hooting in the crowd is regrettable but Doc's version is from the heart. His blindness since age one, surely Cross enough, did not keep him from becoming internationally famous and loved around the world. But at the height of his fame, his loved son and partner Merle was killed in a tractor accident. The fact that he can still sing this song is a testimony to his faith.