What a Friend We Have in Jesus

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 no 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 Saviour, 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.

Are you good at taking advice?  How about advice from someone who has never walked in your shoes or experienced what you may be going through?  I personally have a hard time with that.  It’s like me giving Peyton Manning advice on how to throw a football.  I have no idea what I am talking about because I have never experienced playing quarterback in the NFL (high school or the SEC for that matter).  I do, however, love to talk to someone who has “walked in my shoes” in certain areas of life.  Their wisdom comes from experience, not from opinion or theory.  They have gotten their “hands dirty” with the things of life, and to me, that is much more meaningful.  The same is true for the hymn this week.  I wanted to tell you a little history behind the hymn and it’s author before you read the hymn because there are some statements that he makes in this hymn that are extremely thought provoking and challenging if you understand some of his background. 

The author of this hymn was Joseph Scriven.  He was born in Ireland, but migrated to Canada after a tragedy in his life.  The night before his wedding, his fiancée drowned in a lake.  He actually witnessed her body being pulled from the water.  Apparently, there were two reasons he left his native home of Ireland – his Christian beliefs that caused him to be estranged from his family, and the tragedy surrounding his fiancée.  He moved to Canada, and some time later wrote this poem (which became a hymn) when he found out his mother was ill.  The poem was meant to be a source of encouragement to her, and was never intended to be published.  Later in life, Mr. Scriven was engaged again, but unfortunately tragedy struck once more and his fiancée came down with tuberculosis, and she died as well.   Mr. Scriven experienced some deep tragedies in his life which make the statements in the hymn below all the more powerful.  I have underlined certain phrases in this hymn that made me really think since I have learned a little more history behind it’s author.  The hymn is well-known, and will probably be familiar to most of you, but knowing more about the story behind the author should make it that much more meaningful.

• All our sins and griefs to bear – If there was anybody that experienced grief in their life, I would say Joseph Scriven qualifies.  He experienced the death of two of his fiancées.  He was thousands of miles from home and estranged from his family because of his religious beliefs.  However, he found the source of strength that can help through those problems – a friend like Jesus.  The Bible says “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Mr. Scriven experienced grief in his life.  However, he had a Friend who helped bear those griefs and pains – the pain of loss, the pain of rejection by family and friends, the pain of being alone.  That Friend had experienced, to a much greater degree, those same feelings of loss and being alone and forsaken.

• Peace we often forfeit – If you have ever played sports, you have probably been in a situation where you have had to forfeit a game.  Most of the time the forfeit was because you didn’t have enough players to play.  I always thought that the game should be played anyway.  You can play baseball with 8 guys, or football with 10 guys, or even basketball with 4 guys.  I hated that we couldn’t even try to play.  I think the author had the same kind of thought here.  How often do we fret and worry about things, but don’t pray about those things?  Sometimes, we don’t even try to pray.  Are we forfeiting God’s peace because we don’t carry everything to God in prayer?

• We should never be discouraged – To be honest,  I had a problem with this particular line when I thought about it.  Isn’t discouragement a natural emotion and a natural part of life?  Aren’t we entitled to have a time of sadness, grief and discouragement?    One of the definitions of discouragement is “a state of hopelessness.”  If we think about this statement from that perspective, the author is right.  As Christians, we have a hope.  Our hope is an eternal salvation.  That hope may seem far off in the midst of our circumstances, but the truth is we should never be discouraged (without hope) because of what God has promised us.

James Taylor is a famous singer from the 70’s and 80’s, and one of his more famous songs is “You’ve got a friend.”  (I’m sure you older folks are humming the tune in your mind right now).  The song is about one friend telling another that he will be there for them – no matter the circumstance.  A line in that song says “Winter, spring, summer, or fall.  All you’ve got to do is call.  And I’ll be there.  You’ve got a friend.”  I have never met James Taylor so I can’t tell you what kind of friend he is.  The people on my “Hymn of the Week” distribution have been good friends to me.  (One has actually been a friend since I was 6 or 7 years old).  However, no matter what kind of friend James Taylor is, or what kind of friend I might be to you, or what kind of friend you might be to someone else, we will never come close to the friend that we have in Jesus.  He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  He is a friend that will be with you throughout the seasons of life (winter, spring, summer or fall).  This song also says “You just call out my name.  And you know wherever I am.  I’ll come running.”  Jesus is the greatest friend you will ever have or need.  Just call out His name, and know that He will come running to be the friend you need, like He was for Joseph Scriven.  “What a friend we have in Jesus!!!!!”