What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Words: Joseph M. Scriven, 1855 · Tune "Converse": Charles C. Converse, 1868 · Public domain
Verse 1
GWhat a friend we have in CJesus
GAll our sins and griefs to Dbear
GWhat a privilege to Ccarry
GEverything to DGod in Gprayer
DOh, what peace we often Gforfeit
COh, what Emneedless Apain we Dbear
GAll because we do not Ccarry
GEverything to DGod in Gprayer
Verse 2
GHave we trials and Ctemptations?
GIs there trouble Danywhere?
GWe should never be Cdiscouraged
GTake it to the DLord in Gprayer
DCan we find a friend so Gfaithful
CWho will Emall our Asorrows Dshare?
GJesus knows our every Cweakness
GTake it to the DLord in Gprayer
Verse 3
GAre we weak and heavy Claden
GCumbered with a Dload of care?
GPrecious Savior, still our Crefuge
GTake it to the DLord in Gprayer
DDo thy friends despise, Gforsake thee?
CTake it Emto the ALord in Dprayer
GIn His arms He'll take and Cshield thee
GThou wilt find a Dsolace Gthere
Chords in the key of G
- G
- D
- C
- Em
- A
About this hymn
- Words
- Joseph M. Scriven, written 1855, first published 1865
- Music
- CONVERSE, also called ERIE, by Charles C. Converse, 1868
- Meter
- 8.7.8.7 D
- In
- 159+ hymnals (Hymnary count needs a second check)
- Scripture
- Matthew 11:28-30, John 15:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:17
The story
Joseph Scriven wrote this in 1855 as a private poem for his mother. She was in Ireland and he was living in Canada, and he meant it to comfort her, not to be sung. It went into print in 1865 with no name on it, and he was not widely credited as the author until the 1880s. When a neighbor asked him about it, the line that comes down to us is that he and the Lord did it between them. Hymnary also ties the words to his grief after his second fiancee died. Charles Converse wrote the tune in 1868, and words and music were printed together in 1870. That is when it really spread.
Aretha Franklin recorded it on her 1972 album Amazing Grace, cut live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles with Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir, and that slow, heavily ornamented, choir-answered reading is still the reference point for how this hymn gets treated in gospel.
Where it fits in a service
Often used as an altar call, a prayer hymn, or the song under a pastoral prayer. It also sits well in a hospital visit or a homegoing service, anywhere people need something slow and familiar.
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