Abide With Me
Henry Francis Lyte (b. Ednam, near Kelso, Rosburghshire, Scotland, 1793; d. Nice, France, 1847) wrote this text in the late summer of 1847; he died in November of that year (various other stories about Lyte’s writing of this text do not appear to be reliable). First printed in a leaflet in 1847, the text was published posthumously in Lyte’s Remains (1850). Most hymnals, including the Psalter Hymnal, customarily omit three of the original eight stanzas. The Psalter Hymnal also contains other alterations; for example, stanza 4 originally read, “Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.”
The text was inspired by Luke 24:29, in which the two travelers to Emmaus ask Jesus to “stay with us, for it is nearly evening.” But “Abide with Me” is not a hymn for the evening of a day; Instead evening is a metaphor for the close of life, a transition from life’s “little day” (st. 2) to “Heaven’s morning” (st. 5), which Lyte himself was quickly I approaching. The text is a prayer for God’s abiding care when friends fail (st. 1), when everything seems to change and decay (st. 2), when the devil attacks (st. 3), when death approaches (st. 4), and when we pass from this life to heaven’s glory (st. 5).
English Lyrics：
Abide with me
1. Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me
2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not, abide with me
3 I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
4. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death’s sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me
5. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee
In life, in death, o Lord, abide with me
Abide with me, abide with me
