O JESUS, Friend unfailing, How dear Thou art 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.
What fills my soul 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.
Why should I droop in sorrow? Thou art 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.
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!
Samuel Christian Gottfried Küster, 1762-1838, tr Hannah Kilham Burlingham, 1842-1901