What a Friend we have in Jesus

The hymn *“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”* traces back to a deeply personal story of grief and faith. It was inspired by a poem written by Joseph Medlicott Scriven, a man born in Ireland who endured profound loss.

Joseph fell in love and was engaged to be married, but the day before their wedding, his fiancée tragically died. Heartbroken, he left Ireland for Canada, hoping for a fresh start. In time, he found love again with a woman named Eliza—but heartbreak struck once more when she, too, passed away just weeks before their wedding.

As if that weren’t enough, Joseph later received word that his mother was gravely ill. Unable to afford the journey back home, he did the only thing he could—he wrote her a letter. In that letter, he included the words that would later become the beloved hymn: *“What a friend we have in Jesus…”*

Those words weren’t written from a place of comfort, but from deep pain. Yet even in overwhelming grief, Joseph spoke of Jesus as a faithful friend—someone he trusted completely, someone he could turn to with every sorrow.

That’s what makes this hymn so powerful. It’s not just poetry—it’s testimony. A reminder that even in our darkest moments, we are not alone

The question it leaves us with is simple, but searching:

Can we say the same?

The sang this song today at Open Heaven, Truly Jesus is the only one we can tell our problem to. I'm truly bless by the Song

We sing this hymn often in our little church. The words bless me each and every time. So grateful to be able to carry it all to God in prayer!

Jesus is the only answer to every problem
This song reminds me of the bountiful LOVE and mercy of GOD.
Take your challenges to GOD and only him.

Churches have practically abandoned hymns and it shouldn’t be so. Hymn worship is special and spiritual so it should be encouraged once again in our various churches. Peace and love

This is a particular favourite of mine. It's a shame that the sung worship in our church service consists almost entirely of modern worship songs. I've recently written to our Worship Team leader and she has promised to bring the matter up in their next meeting. I'm praying that they'll decide to introduce more hymns. I know that there are plenty of others in the church who feel the same way, especially the elderly members.

I love the old hymns too. I remember Momma singing them around the house & playing her piano too. Miss her much! 💟

I haven’t thought about hymns like this in forever but when the Holy Spirit gives me a song… I’ll stand on it. What beautiful and pure hymns we used to sing. ❤️

This hymn, as many others, are really devotionals set to music. They reiterate Biblical truth and because they are set to music the truths they proclaim stay in our mind and we internalize the powerful, Godly message. Oh, how I miss these hymns as part of our church service and regret that a generation of people no longer know these Biblical truths taught in hymns like this one.

What a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and grief to bear what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer, there is no other friend who can bear our sins and our grief but Jesus Christ, thank you Jesus for your grace and mercy Amen 🙏🏾