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?
Of Lyte's hymns, "Abide With Me" is the best known. According to the traditional story given in the "Remains", Lyte wrote it a few hours after conducting the final service at his church, which was probably 5 September 1847. More likely the hymn was actually written in July or August of that year. Lyte himself created for the hymn what his biographer has disparaged as "a dull tune." When "Hymns Ancient and Modern" was published in 1861, the editor, William H. Monk—whose three-year-old daughter had just died—composed his own tune, "Eventide," for Lyte's poem. The hymn became a favorite of Kings George V and George VI and was sung at the former's funeral. The hymn also inspired Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener and General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, and it was said to have been on the lips of Edith Cavell as she faced a German firing squad. "Abide with Me" has been sung at the Football Association Cup finals since 1927 when the association secretary substituted the hymn for the playing of "Alexander's Ragtime Band." In Rugby League, the hymn has been sung before the Challenge Cup final since 1929, the first year the match was staged at Wembley Stadium. The hymn is the also the Portora Royal School (where Lyte went to school as a boy) victory song and is sung its remembrance service.
Leon Litvack has written in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography that although Lyte's "poetic energies were directed at scripturally and evangelically minded audiences, his lyric gift was universally appreciated. The example of ‘Abide with me’ is instructive: intensely personal and contemplative, yet nationally popular—even being sung (always, after its publication in 1861, to W. H. Monk's tune, ‘Eventide’) on secular occasions such as at football matches, and especially, since 1927, at the English cup final." The 20th-century hymnologist Erik Routley referred to the "much-loved H. R. Lyte" who "though scriptural and evangelical in his emphases, always writes good literature and is rarely deserted by an exquisite lyric gift. Perhaps the centrally 'romantic' hymn of all hymns is the intensely personal yet, as it has proved, wholly universal hymn, 'Abide with me.' - Wikipedia
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As others have pointed out, this hymn was sung by Emeli Sande at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony in London.
Thank You MOST HIGH LORD, EVERLASTING FATHER, ALMIGHTY GOD for giving us this beautiful hymn, it soothes, comforts and heals the soul. GLORY BE TO YOUR HOLY NAME FOR EVER. THANK YOU JESUS. Amen.
This song brings such a healing and comfort to me. I am thankful for this man and his obedience to God to pen these words on paper. Still inspiring and encouraging for years to come.
Awesome song to awesome God. A song I learnt as a primary school pupil; it makes more meaning to me now than back in the days. It rejuvenates the soul and renews faith in the Almighty God. Thank You Holy Spirit for putting this in my heart this day. What a blessing! Glory to Jesus - the Redeemer of my soul.
Abide with us oh Lord in Jesus Name. Please our Lord Jesus stay close to us forever and ever in Jesus Name. Thanks for uploading this beautiful song. God bless you.
Great hymn. I sang it out in my sleep three days ago. But maybe you will need to modify the beginning of the second line because a lot of born again Christians personalize their songs. Maybe we say: EVEN THROUGH THE DARKNESS, LORD WITH ME ABIDE.
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.