What a Friend We Have in Jesus

An Irish-born Canadian philanthropist and teacher (1819–1886) whose life was marked by tragedy. On the night before his wedding in Ireland, his fiancée fell from her horse into a river and drowned. Devastated, he immigrated to Canada, where he dedicated his life to serving the poor and elderly. He wrote 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus' in 1855 as a private poem to comfort his ailing mother back in Ireland, never intending for it to be published.

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 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

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