- 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
- Oh, 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 terror, 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.
- 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?
- Though cloud and sunshine, O 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;
- Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
- In life and death, O Lord, abide with me.
The lyrics were written by Reverend Lyte in 1847 as he was dying of tuberculosis.