Someone has well penned this statement, "A Christian's practical
theology is often his hymnology." Many of us could attest to
this truth as we recall some deeply moving experience - perhaps
the loss of a dear loved one-and a simple hymn which has been
used by the Holy Spirit to minister to our spiritual need.
Such a hymn is "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Though it is
not considered to be an example of great literary writing, its
simply stated truths have brought solace and comfort to
countless numbers of God's people since it was first written in
1857. So relevant to the basic spiritual needs of people are
these words that many missionaries state that it is one of the
first hymns taught to new converts. The very simplicity of the
text and music has been its appeal and strength.
Joseph Scriven was born in 1819 of prosperous parents in Dublin,
Ireland. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. At the
age of twenty-five he decided to leave his native country and
migrate to Canada. His reasons for leaving his family and
country seem to be two-fold: the religious influence of the
Plymouth Brethren upon his life estranging him from his family
and the accidental drowning of his fiancee the night before
their scheduled wedding.
From that time Scriven developed a totally different pattern of
life. He took the Sermon on the Mount literally. It is said that
he gave freely of his limited possessions, even sharing the
clothing from his own body, if necessary, and never once refused
to help anyone who needed it. Ira Sankey tells in his writings
of the man who, seeing Scriven in the streets of Port Hope,
Ontario, with his sawbuck and saw, asked, "Who is that man? I
want him to work for me." The answer was, "You cannot get that
man; he saws wood only for poor widows and sick people who
cannot pay." Because of this manner of life Scriven was
respected but was considered to be eccentric by those who knew
him.
"What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was never intended by Scriven
for publication. Upon learning of his mother's serious illness
and unable to be with her in far-off Dublin, he wrote a letter
of comfort enclosing the words of this text. Some time later
when he himself was ill, a friend who came to call on him
chanced to see the poem scribbled on scratch paper near the bed.
The friend read it with keen interest and asked Scriven if he
had written the words. Scriven, with typical modesty, replied,
"The Lord and I did it between us." In 1869 a small collection
of his poems was published. It was simply entitled Hymns and
Other Verses.
After the death of Joseph Scriven, also by accidental drowning,
the citizens of Port Hope, Ontario, erected a monument on the
Port Hope-Peterborough Highway, which runs from Lake Ontario,
with the text and these words inscribed:
Four miles north, in Pengally's Cemetery, lies the
philanthropist and author of this great masterpiece, written at
Port Hope, 1857. The composer of the music, Charles C. Converse,
was a well-educated versatile and successful Christian, whose
talents ranged from law to professional music. Under the pen
name of Karl Reden, he wrote numerous scholarly articles on many
subjects. Though he was an excellent musician and composer with
many of his works performed by the leading American orchestras
and choirs of his day, his life is best remembered for this
simple music so well suited to Scriven's text.
Ira D. Sankey discovered the hymn in 1875, just in time to
include it in his well-known collection, Sankey's Gospel Hymns
Number One. Later Sankey wrote, "The last hymn which went into
the book became one of the first in favor."
Quoted from "101 Hymn Stories" by Kenneth Osbeck. Kregel Publishers, P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 1982.
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