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Advent Hymnals

SDA Hymnal 187

Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners

Studio

1Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

RefrainHallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

2Jesus! what a Strength for weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him;
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

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

4Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find;
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

The verse

Meter
8.7.8.7
Foot
trochaic (DUM-da) · 69% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!/˘˘˘/˘/˘8A
Jesus! Lover of my soul;/˘/˘˘˘/7B
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,/˘/˘/˘/˘8C
He, my Savior, makes me whole.˘˘/˘/˘/7B

Verse 2

Jesus! what a Strength for weakness!/˘˘˘/˘/˘8A
Let me hide myself in Him;/˘///˘˘7B
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,/˘/˘˘//˘8C
He, my Strength, my victory wins.˘˘/˘/˘˘/8D

Verse 3

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!/˘˘˘/˘/˘8A
While the billows o'er me roll,/˘/˘/˘/7B
Even when my heart is breaking,/˘/˘/˘/˘8C
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.˘˘/˘/˘/7B

Verse 4

Jesus! I do now receive Him,/˘˘˘/˘/˘8A
More than all in Him I find;/˘/˘˘˘/7B
He hath granted me forgiveness,˘//˘˘˘/˘8C
I am His, and He is mine.˘˘˘˘˘˘/7D

Refrain

Hallelujah! what a Savior!/˘/˘˘˘/˘8A
Hallelujah! what a Friend!/˘/˘˘˘/7B
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,/˘/˘/˘/˘8C
He is with me to the end.˘˘˘˘˘˘/7B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.