God, Help Us When We’re Frightened

Music by Ron Klusmeier
Words by Walter Farquharson
Tune Name: MOTTLE WIENS

Lyrics as Poetry

God, help us when we’re frightened
and feel ourselves alone,
lead us to you who gives us
good bread and not cold stone.

By faith we see when darkness
hides meaning from our eyes.
By faith we walk with courage
when strength within us dies.


With hope we face tomorrow
and look beyond this day.
With hope we journey onward
when we can’t see our way.

In love we’re bound together
and freed from crippling fear.
The love that was in Jesus
shows us that you are near.


God, help us when we’re frightened
and feel ourselves alone,
lead us to you who gives us
good bread and not cold stone.


Words by
Walter FarquharsonCopyright © 1979 by Walter Farquharson
Administered by Hope Publishing Company
Carol Stream, Illinois • USA

Comments About Song

BY WALTER FARQUHARSON


Probably nothing is more overwhelming than the sense of being left, being abandoned, deserted, alone. Experienced from birth, perhaps even prenatally, fear may not be articulated but it is felt. As dependent creatures we cannot survive abandonment.

A child is separated from a parent in an unfamiliar place, is in a place of not hearing familiar voices, waits with worry because the person who was to meet her hasn’t shown up, faces a bully without a champion nearby, is startled by the storm that has come up too quickly and home seems far away – these are probably commonplace experiences of growing up even in the most secure and sheltered of environments.

Some children experience the reality of family displacement, unimaginable separations, places of not knowing because of illness, a survival of accident or natural disaster.

Throughout life we experience the pre-adolescent, the teen, the youth, the variety of adult fears, anxieties, terrors.

How often the word of the Lord comes in Scriptural story, in Psalms and prophetic word, whispering or shouting in the storm “Fear not. You are not alone. You are not abandoned.”

Too often that has sounded like scolding for being afraid, for lacking faith, for not trusting God, for not being able to believe in the efficacy of whistling in the dark or believing that there is always a ‘purpose’ in what is happening.

In reality it is a word of encouragement. I hear the word and I know I am not alone – however much I thought I was.

The gospel of Jesus , the story of Jesus from angel song to Mary and Joseph and to startled shepherds – to the emptiness, confusion and anger of threatened disciples on the road to Golgotha – to the garden of the resurrection or the walk to Emmaus – still says. “Do not be afraid. You are not alone. You do not walk alone. Ever.”

The United Church Creed says, “We are not alone. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. Thanks be to God.”


One winter evening, before I had started school, my family visited at my Grandmother’s home a mile down the road. Travel was by a sleigh drawn by a team of horses. After the evening meal the family dressed for the frosty trip down the road to home. I opted to stay the night with my Grandmother – a sleepover.

By bedtime it no longer felt like such a good idea – I began to feel alone, homesick, anxious, afraid. The upstairs room I was to share with my uncle seemed like an alien place. There were calls down announcing my desire to go “home”. Words of encouragement called up the stairs from my uncle and from my Grandmother. Then, another message. My Uncle Bert called up, “Better get up, Wattie, up and dressed. I’ll take you home.”

A few minutes later, well bundled in warm clothes, I was on my uncle’s shoulders and we were on our way down the road, snow crunching beneath his feet, his breath and mine easily seen in the still, clear, very frosty night. He named stars and constellations for me, identified neighbour’s distant farm lights, talked of the coyotes, snowy owls, weasels and mice that would be sharing the evening moonlight with us.

No complaining, no words of judgment, no warnings of dire consequences if there was ever a repeat performance. He spoke too of being afraid, of how natural it was, of how sometimes it served us well, about times he had been afraid and how sometimes he still knew fear.

“In love we’re bound together and freed from crippling fear. The love that was in Jesus shows us that you are near.”

And, in people like Uncle Bert.

                                                    Audio Sample

"GOD, HELP US
WHEN WE'RE FRIGHTENED"
Refrain and verse 2 to end
played on piano

Scripture References

  • Exodus 16:1-16
  • Matthew 7:7-11
  • Matthew 14:22-33
  • Mark 4:35-41
  • Luke 1:26-35
  • Luke 11:1-4
  • Luke 11:9-13
  • 1 John 4:16-19
  • Revelation 1:9-18

Season, Theme
or Subject

  • Assurance
  • Bread
  • Courage
  • Faith
  • Fear
  • Funeral
  • God∶ love of
  • Grief
  • Heal, Healing
  • Hope
  • Journey
  • Lonely, Loneliness
  • Love∶ God's
  • Love∶ human love
  • Maundy Thursday
  • Memorial Service
  • Trust
  • Wholeness

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