Hymn Text: Abide With Me by Henry Lyte

Abide With Me

by Henry Lyte

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Hymn Story. Henry Lyte lost his mother and brother when he was young and his father was so distant, he signed his letters to Henry as "Uncle" rather than "Father." ”

His school headmaster noticed Henry’s academic abilities, paid his tuition and unofficially adopted him.

Lyte entered the ministry and settled in an English fishing village where he supplied every fishing vessel with a Bible and a songbook. “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken, “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven” and “Abide with Me” are some of Henry’s most well-known hymns.