Abide With Me

Hymn lyrics by Henry F. Lyte,
Music by William H. Monk

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

• Not 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.

Verse 4

• 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 every plea—
• Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Verse 5

• Thou 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.

Verse 6

• I 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.

Verse 7

• 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 8

• 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.