Most of you are probably familiar with the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” The hymn is well-known even outside the English-speaking world, and it has been translated into a number of other languages. It has been sung in Italian in the Vatican in Rome and in Russian in Moscow. However, many do not know how the hymn came to be written and how the writer not only enjoyed the Lord Jesus as a dear Friend, but also reflected that same character as a friend to others.
Joseph Scriven was born in 1819 in Ireland and grew up in turbulent times, as Ireland endured economic decline. He graduated from Trinity College in 1842 and eventually weathered the well-known Great Irish Famine when the potato crop failed in 1845. But most important in his early life was his accepting Christ as his Savior at the young age of eight and becoming interested in those who simply met together to worship as brethren, apart from any denomination.
The Loss of His Fiancée
One year following his graduation from Trinity, he was engaged to be married. On the eve of their wedding, his fiancée was drowned in his full view, but he was unable to do anything to save her. Needless to say, this was a terrible shock to him, and shortly afterward he emigrated to Canada. His mother bought him an expensive overcoat so that he could withstand the harsh winters of Canada, but while walking down the streets of Dublin he met a beggar, and later he told his mother, “I gave my coat to a man who needed it more than I did.” It was an attitude and an action that would characterize Joseph Scriven’s entire life.
He returned to Ireland the following year after he became ill in Canada, and he was then invited to tour the Middle East. It was there, in Damascus, while walking down Straight Street and thinking about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (later the Apostle Paul), that the inspiration for his most famous hymn came to him. It was written as a poem, and he sent a copy home to his mother. Upon returning to England, he began teaching and preaching. Again he courted a young woman, but when a rival suitor appeared, Scriven yielded unselfishly to him.
The Third Bereavement
Joseph Scriven returned to Canada, this time permanently, and worked for a few years in the Woodstock-Brantford area of Ontario. Some years later he moved farther east in Ontario to the town of Port Hope. It was here that he spent his most fruitful years, but he also experienced another tragedy. At the age of 40, he again became engaged, to a girl named Catherine Roche. She had recently been saved and was baptized in Rice Lake in April. The icy waters of the lake resulted in a bout of pneumonia, and Catherine passed away after several months of suffering. This third bereavement had the greatest effect on Joseph Scriven, and he remained single for the rest of his life.
While all of this certainly saddened him, it seemed only to increase his devotedness to Christ, his desire to share the gospel, and his friendship with those in need. He often preached publicly, gave out gospel tracts and sometimes a poem he had written. By 1857 some of his intimate friends knew about the poem, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” However, he wrote many other hymns (more than 100), although most of them are unknown and unsung today.
Work for the Poor
One more incident is worth repeating. In 1864, in downtown Port Hope, two women were walking along the street. They saw a middle-aged man coming toward them carrying a sawhorse and a bucksaw. One woman greeted the man, and the other asked, “Do you know that man? I want a man to cut wood, and it is hard to find one who will do it well.” The other woman replied, “That is Joseph Scriven, but you can’t get him; he won’t cut wood for you.” The other asked, “Why not?” “Because,” came the answer, “you are able to pay for it. He saws wood for poor widows and sick people; he often sends them wood and hires a man to cut it for them. He has income from the old country and spends it all on the poor, except for what he needs to support himself in a quiet way.”
Another question came: “How long has he been engaged in doing this?” “I can’t say for certain,” came the reply, “but I have heard that when he was a young man about to be married, his fiancée was accidentally drowned the day before the wedding. As he steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead, he was so deeply impressed with the vanity of all earthly joys and hopes that he consecrated his heart, his life and his fortune to the service of Christ.”
He went to be with the Lord in 1886, at the age of 67. He was buried near Rice Lake, Ontario, beside the last woman to whom he was engaged, Catherine Roche. We can certainly say of Joseph Scriven, as it is said of Abel of old, “He being dead yet speaketh” (Heb. 11:44By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)).
W. J. Prost