Christ My Song - 1071
O Jesus, Friend unfailing - The unfailing Friend
(Samuel Christian Gottfried Küster/Hannah K. Burlingham/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The unfailing Friend.
1. O Jesus, Friend unfailing,
how dear art thou to me!
Are cares or fears assailing?
I find my strength in thee.
Why should my feet grow weary
of this my pilgrim way?
Rough though the path, and dreary,
it ends in perfect day. PDF - Midi
2. Nought, nought I count as pleasure,
compared, O Christ, with thee;
thy sorrow without measure
earned peace and joy for me.
I love to own, Lord Jesus,
thy claims o'er me and mine;
bought with thy blood most precious,
whose can I be but thine?
3. What fills my heart with gladness?
'Tis thine abounding grace;
where can I look in sadness,
but, Jesus, on thy face?
My all is thy providing –
thy love can ne'er grow cold;
in thee, my Refuge, hiding –
no good wilt thou withhold.
4. Why should I droop in sorrow?
Thou'rt ever by my side.
Why, trembling, dread the morrow?
What ill can e'er betide?
If I my cross have taken,
'tis but to follow thee;
if scorned, despised, forsaken,
nought severs thee from me.
5. O worldly pomp and glory,
your charms are spread in vain!
I've heard a sweeter story,
I've found a truer gain.
Where Christ a place prepareth,
there is my loved abode;
there shall I gaze on Jesus,
there shall I dwell with God.
6. For every tribulation,
for every sore distress,
in Christ I've full salvation,
sure help, and quiet rest.
No fear of foes prevailing;
I triumph, Lord, in thee;
O Jesus, Friend unfailing,
how dear art thou to me!
Hannah K. Burlingham, Wayside Songs, 1901, 144-146.
Translated from the German O Jesus, Freund der Seelen
of Samuel Christian Gottfried Küster.