San Francisco Central Seventh-day Adventist Church

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186 I’ve Found a Friend

AUTHOR: J. G. Small, 1863 (1817-1888)
COMPOSER: George C. Stebbins, 1878 (1846-1945)

James Grindlay Small, a Scotsman, wrote this hymn in 1863 and entitled it, "Jesus the Friend."

The tune, FRIEND, named for these words for which it was written, was composed in 1878 at Providence, Rhode Island, by George Coles Stebbins during an evangelistic campaign. Stebbins woked with the Moody-Sankey evangelistic team for almost 25 years.

I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!
He loved me ere I knew Him;
He drew me with the cords of love,
And thus He bound me to Him.
And 'round my heart still closely twine
Those ties which nought can sever,
For I am His, and He is mine,
Forever and forever.

I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!
He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life,
But His own self He gave me.
Nought that I have my own I call,
I hold it for the Giver;
My heart, my strength, my life my all,
Are His, and His forever.

I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!
All power to Him is given;
To guard me on my upward course,
And bring me safe to heaven.
The eternal glories gleam afar,
To nerve my faint endeavor;
So now to watch, to work, to war,
And then to rest forever.

I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!
So kind, and true, and tender,
So wise a counselor and guide,
So mighty a defender.
From Him, who loveth me so well,
What power my soul can sever?
Shall life or death, or earth, or hell?
No; I am His forever.