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Abide With Me

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Basic information

Abide With Me

Tune: EVENTIDE · Meter: 10.10.10.10

Hymn state

Assembling

Written By

Henry F. Lyte (1847)

Composed By

William H. Monk (1861)

In the Public Domain

Lyrics

Verse 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, O abide with me!

Verse 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!

Verse 3

Come not in terrors as the King of kings,

But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;

Tears for all woes, a heart for ev'ry plea;

O Friend of sinners, thus abide with me!

Verse 4

I need Thy presence every passing hour:

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?

Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!

Verse 5

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!

Verse 6

Hold Thou Thy Cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;

Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Recommendation details

Recommended by: jim@dukeboys.org

Source: Not provided.

Rationale: No rationale provided.

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Scriptural Foundations

Additional References

Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. - Luke 24:29

History

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).

Lyte was orphaned at an early age. He decided to pursue a medical career, although he also had an early interest in poetry. At Trinity Col...

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