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Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal · No. 543 · Words: Walter John Mathams
Jesus, Friend of Little Children
Create PowerPoint slides from this hymn →A children's prayer-hymn written by Walter John Mathams (c. 1882), asking Jesus — who himself lived as a child — to be a personal friend and guide through each stage of growing up. Its simple, intimate tone made it a staple of Sunday-school hymnody.
Verse 1
Jesus, Friend of little children,
Be a friend to me;
Take my hand and ever keep me
Close to Thee.
Verse 2
Teach me how to grow in goodness,
Daily as I grow;
Thou hast been a child, and surely
Thou dost know.
Verse 3
Step by step, O, lead me onward,
Upward into youth;
Wiser, stronger, still becoming
In Thy truth.
Verse 4
Never leave me, nor forsake me;
Ever be my friend;
For I need Thee from life's dawning
To its end.
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