Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners

J. Wilbur Chapman(1859-1918)
1.Jesus! What a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

2 Jesus! What a Strength for weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him;
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my vict'ry wins. [Refrain]

3 Jesus! What a Help in sorrow!
While the billows o'er me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul. [Refrain]

4.Jesus! What a guide and keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night overtakes me,
He, my pilot, hears my cry.

5 Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find,
He has granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine. [Refrain]

“Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners” was written by J. Wilbur Chapman in 1910 and was first published in Alexander's Gospel Songs, No. 2 in the same year.

Born in Richmond, IN, he attended Quaker Day School and Methodist Sunday school. At age 17 he made a public declaration of his Christian faith and joined the Richmond Presbyterian Church.

He received his seminary degree from Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, OH. He was later awarded a Doctorate in Divinity from the College of Wooster, and an LL.D. from Heidelberg University.

He held six pastorates in OH, IN, NY, PA, NY, NJ before becoming an evangelist, generally traveling with gospel singer, Charles Alexander. In 1893 he preached with D. L. Moody and in 1895 he was appointed Corresponding Secretary of the Presbyterian General Assembly's Committee on Evangelism, overseeing activities of 51 evangelists in 470 cities.

In 1918 he developed gallstones and underwent surgery which was too much for him. He died two days later.

His best-known hymn, “Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners”, contains five stanzas and a refrain, and the text is very consistent. The first four stanzas each focus on one aspect of Jesus – His love, strength, comfort, and guidance – elaborating on how He can help the believer through life's trials. The final stanza is a declaration of loyalty to Christ, and the refrain is an outburst of praise. Some writers have commented on the similarities between this hymn and Charles Wesley's “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” including quotations in the second lines of Chapman's first (“Jesus! Lover of my soul”) and fourth stanzas (“While the tempest still is high”).

The first line of the hymn, “Jesus! What a friend for sinners,” is probably a reference to Luke 7:34-35 – “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you [the Pharisees] say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children” (ESV). While the Pharisees meant to scoff and accuse, the next story in Luke's gospel illustrates how Jesus really is a “friend of sinners” – a “sinful woman” anointed Jesus' feet and her sins were forgiven (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus said of her, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47 ESV)

Blessing for a safe and healthy week,
Dorene

Sources: https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_what_a_friend_for_sinners