Proverbs 12:25 Sing To A Friend
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.
All hymns are classical Christian songs that are someone’s testimony—a song of praise, worship, or prayer for the Lord’s help. Many hymns are about anxiety and depression; ” What A Friend We Have in Jesus’ is such—a poem to comfort a sick mother from a loving son. Joseph Scriven was a humble man inspired by the sermon on the mount from Matthew chapters 5- 6 and 7. Twice tragedy took away the love of his life, but he had a friend in Jesus. The first love of his life, his fiancée, died of accidental drowning the day before the wedding. So full of grief, all of Ireland, where he lived, reminded him of her. He moved to Canada to start a new life. In Canada, trying to be a light unto the world continue to be a blessing for all to see. He met a new lady; she wanted to marry him and be baptized to have a friend in Jesus, as well. The cold March baptism water made his new fiancée catch the flu, and she eventually died of pneumonia. Hearing that his mother back home in Ireland was ill, he wrote and mailed a poem called “Pray without ceasing.”. Later an American attorney named Charles Crozat Converse, who also composed church songs, transformed the poem into the hymn, ”What A Friend We Have In Jesus. Anxiety appears in God’s word about four times, and the word depression doesn’t. Jesus’ name appears in the holy scriptures 1,043 times, adding to a person needing to have Jesus more than a friend, anxiety, or depression. Losing two women Joseph was supposed to marry made him feel God didn’t want him to be a husband. So Joseph Scriven became a full-time friend of God, always willing to be a blessed servant for the Lord. Joseph Scriven’s life ended tragically, which is a mystery, but His friend Jesus only knows. Many people experience anxiety and depression, but the peculiar has a genuine friend in Jesus. I hope you do, as I do; God bless you; Jesus loves you, and so do I. His humble bondservant, Samuel Jerry Head.
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.