Cross and Comfort
Abide With Me
- Words:
- Henry F. Lyte, 1847. Music: 'Eventide' William H. Monk, 1861. Setting: William H. Monk, 1861.
- Metre:
- 10 10 10 10
- 1Abide 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.
- 2Swift 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.
- 3Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,Familiar, condescending, patient, free.Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
- 4Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea?Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
- 5Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
- 6I need Thy presence every passing hour.What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
- 7I 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.
- 8Hold 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.
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In the hymnals
- Written in 1847, the words are in 1,871 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, Eventide, is in 1,267 hymnals. The tune →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. Further sheet music is from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.