What a Friend We Have in Jesus Archives

SONGS OF PRAISE – STORY BEHIND THE SONG “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” – by Charles Schokman Some of our best-loved hymns were written in times of great sadness. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is one such song. Despite the pain, many hymn writers were able to find comfort in the arms of Jesus and point others to this source of unshakable joy with their music. One of the most helpful hymns in popular use is Joseph Scriven’s hymn on the friendship of Jesus, the comforter and burden-bearer. Scriven (1820-1886) was a native of Dublin, Ireland, born in 1820. He graduated from Trinity College in his native city. At the age of twenty-five he emigrated to Canada, and lived there until his death at Port Hope on Lake Ontario, October 10, 1886. When a young man, he was engaged to be married to a lady whom he had ...