Heads up: piano recordings may drift slightly out of sync with the highlighting.
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.
EA
B
bide
with
C♯m
me!
E
fast
A
falls
the
B7even
E
tide;
The darkness
Adeep
E
ens;
B
Lord,
with
F♯7
me
a
B
bide!
EWhen
B
other
C♯mhelp
E
ers
A
fail
and
C♯7
comforts
F♯m
flee,
BHelp
B7
of
the
E
helpless,
A
oh,
a
E
bide
B7
with
E
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.
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.
ESwift
B
to
its
C♯m
close
E
ebbs
A
out
life's
B7
little
E
day;
Earth's joys grow
A
dim,
E
its
B
glories
F♯7
pass
B
away;
EChange
B
and
C♯m
decay
E
in
A
all
C♯7
around
I
F♯m
see;
BO
B7
Thou
who
E
changest
A
not,
E
abide
B7
with
E
me.
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 every plea; Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.
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, thus abide with me.
ECome
B
not
in
C♯m E
terrors,
A
as
the
B7
King
of
E
kings;
But kind and
A
good,
E
with
B
healing
F♯7
in
Thy
B
wings:
ETears
B
for
all
C♯m
woes,
E
a
A
heart
for
C♯7
every
F♯m
plea;
BCome,
B7
Friend
of
E
sinners,
A
thus
E
abide
B7
with
E
me.
4
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, oh, 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 stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me.
EI
B
need
Thy
C♯m E
presence
A
every
B7
passing
E
hour:
What but Thy
A
grace
E
can
B
foil
the
F♯7
tempter's
B
power?
EWho
B
like
C♯m
Thyself
E
my
A
guide
and
C♯7
stay
can
F♯m
be?
BThrough
B7
cloud
and
E
sunshine,
A
oh,
E
abide
B7
with
E
me.
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.
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?
Whoever that has this website.... I don't think you have even the slightest idea how much lives you're touching by this (And how much you touched mine). I wish I could meet you in person to express my gratitude, but I guess I'll do that here. Thank you. Truly your reward is in heaven.
Such a beautiful hymn. Makes you realize how much you need a Saviour, a true friend both of which can be found in a God who loves us, gave all of heaven in the gift of His son, gave us His laws more specifically the Sabbath and has promised that He will return to take all who obey His precepts and believe His words. This truly is a hymn that shows mankind his nothingness.
It is largely due to this hymn that I was totally healed from near fatal Stilnox addiction, I should NOT be alive let alone alive, sane and Happy, WHAT a Saviour we have, shine through the gloom and point me to the skies, very very true Praise His Name!
The conductor, T. P. Ratcliffe, was asked to conduct at Wembley Stadium in intervals during a football (soccer) game. He thought it would be interesting to try having the great audience sing together. Some had trepidations. However, he first suggested "Pack Up Your Troubles," which was sung with enthusiasm. Then, on a venture, he suggested that the crowd of almost 100,000 rise and sing "Abide with Me." King George V was there and rose and bared his head. The great crowd seemed transformed as they sang this hymn so well known to many of them. For one man it meant a miracle. Here is how it happened:
A man from the North of England had gone down to the game. He had been drinking heavily, as was his custom. He went to a football game to get drunk rather than to see the game. When the hymn was announced, he stood with the others, though with difficulty. He said that the first verse brought back memories of his Christian parents. Then something snapped. He could not explain it differently. The verse that begins:
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
seemed like a prayer suited to his need. He said that he bowed his head, and tried to be reverent as he had at his mother's knee, as a lad saying his prayers.
Bill's wife could not stand going to football games with him; he was such a "boozer." She was expecting his return home, thinking that he would be in his usual state. When he turned the corner, he was singing and running. He entered the house and kissed her, and between sobs told her he was a new man. However, he did not himself realize that he had been converted. Never did he take another drink. Truly, God works in mysterious ways. Who would have thought that a hymn sung at a football game between 2 exciting halves would have resulted in the conversion and radical change of a man who was stoned drunk at the time? The hymn has been sung at Wembly as a regular feature since that time.
The author of this hymn, Henry Lyte, was born in Kelso, Scotland. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, a protestant university. He was ordained in the Church of England. As a young curate (assistant to a parish priest) he was called to the bedside of an elderly saint of the church who was dying. He gripped the young curate's hand, and prayed, "Oh, Lord, abide with me; abide with me!" In prayer, he slipped away to abide with Him forever. The young curate never forgot the incident.
In 1823 he was appointed perpetual curate at Lower Brixham in Devonshire. On one occasion, in company with Rev. Edward Frenkiel, I sat on the stone ledge overlooking the bay, where Henry F. Lyte was said to have sat and watched the setting sun. Thinking of his own life, which seemed to be ebbing to a close, he thought back to his experience as a young curate in Dublin. Soon, too soon, he would have to leave his wife and loved ones. He wrote this hymn that evening, and read it to his wife and guests. They wept. They knew he was ill; little did they realize at the time how fast the "eventide" was falling for him, their beloved curate.
Doctors suggested that he go to a dry, warm climate to preserve his life. He went to the French Riviera, where he passed away 6 months later. Ne died at Nice, France, November 20, 1847.
Times change, people and governments deteriorate and become demoralized and decayed, but the Savior, who does not change, is there where you are, when you need Him most, to abide with you. - Hymn Stories by Wilbur Konkel
"For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life!"
This is why we need to abide in Him, and He in us, day by day.
The Lord's word here was quite deep; He spoke not only of manifesting Himself but also of making an abode with His believers. We may have experienced the Lord's manifestation, but we rarely sense the Lord's making an abode with us. There was once a British brother named Henry F. Lyte, who died in his thirties. Before his death he wrote a hymn based on his experience. The first stanza says, "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;/ The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!" (Hymns, #370). All those who love the Lord, follow the Lord, and live by the Lord's words have the same feeling and echo the voice from the heart of this author. We surely love the Lord's abiding with us. The Lord's manifestation is temporary, but the Lord's abiding is constant. Genesis 18 records Abraham's experience of God's manifesting Himself to him. Although God's manifestation was precious, it was only temporary; God did not abide in Abraham. Today we can experience not only the Lord's manifestation but also His abiding with us. The Lord and the Father will make an abode with us, and this abode will be a place for both the Lord and us to dwell.
Hymns, #693, "He faileth not, for He is God," is not that suitable because the train of thought in this hymn does not match our subject. Hymns, #437, "Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him," is also inappropriate because the feeling of this hymn is very high. In the fellowship meeting, which does not have a particular subject, we should not use hymns that have a specific subject. Hymns, #720, "God hath not promised skies always blue, / Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through," is not suitable. This is a good hymn to sing to comfort those who have suffered a domestic misfortune. Hymns, #370, "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide," is not suitable. If we sing this hymn to enjoy the Lord's presence when the sun is setting, it would be quite good. Or if someone is dying, we can sing this hymn with his or her family.
The fourth step in escaping the fall is to know the frailty of man. Enosh is another interesting name in Genesis 4. Enosh means "frail, mortal man." This implies that to escape from walking on the path of the fall, we need to know the frailty of man. We need to know that man is nothing and can break, just as a glass cup breaks easily. This is frailty. Man is frail. Some people do not know themselves. They think that they are smart, wise, and strong, when in fact they have nothing of which to boast. When a car hits a man, he is as fragile as a glass cup. When he is infected with tuberculosis, he must lie down. He may even die from tuberculosis. Man's life is frail. Man's name is Abel, but man's name is also Enosh. Abel means that man is vain, but Enosh means that man is frail. People who dream about their life should wake up. Man is not strong. Man will collapse when he is sick, and he will die if a car hits him. A wife can collapse when she is mad at her husband. She can even get ulcers because of her anger. A person can live to be one hundred years at most. The Chinese say that few can live to the age of seventy. Being fifty years old is not yet the twilight hour, but it is already four o'clock in the afternoon. Some people are at eight or nine o'clock in the evening. There is a hymn that says, "Swift to its close ebbs our life's little day" (Hymns, #370, stanza 2). People must wake up from their dreams, because human life is vain and frail. In order to escape the fall, we must realize the meaning of human life. Those who continue in the fall do not know their own human life. In chapter 4 those who were delivered out of the fall knew that human life is vain and frail.