Abide with Me is a hymn by Henry Francis Lyte, an English pastor who wrote it in September 1847 while dying of tuberculosis; he died that November. It is a prayer for Christ's presence as the evening of life comes on, and it is sung at funerals, at Remembrance services and, famously, before the English FA Cup Final. Lyte headed the poem with the words of the two disciples at Emmaus in Luke 24:29: "Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."
Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) served for twenty-four years as the pastor of Lower Brixham, a fishing village on the coast of Devon in England. He was never strong, and by 1847 tuberculosis had worn him down so badly that his doctors sent him south to the warmer air of Italy and France. On Sunday, September 4, 1847, he preached a farewell sermon to his congregation, barely able to stand. That evening, the family story goes, he walked down to the sea at sunset, then went to his study and came out an hour later with the poem. It is dated Berry Head, September 1847. Two months later, on November 20, he died in Nice; his last words are said to have been Peace! Joy! The hymn is not really about the end of a day. It is about the end of a life, and the one Friend who stays when every other helper fails. Below are all eight of Lyte's stanzas and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
Abide with Me: the words
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, 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 then 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!
Words: Henry Francis Lyte, dated Berry Head, September 1847, weeks before his death. All 8 stanzas are copied from Remains of the Late Rev. Henry Francis Lyte (London, 1850), pages 119-121 (Internet Archive scan), where the poem is headed with Luke 24:29. Most hymnals print stanzas 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8. Tune: Eventide, William Henry Monk (Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861). Public domain.
Abide with us: for it is toward evening
1. Luke 24:29
"But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them."
Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide. On the evening of the first Easter, two disciples walked to Emmaus with a stranger who explained the Scriptures to them. As they reached the village, they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. The stranger was the risen Jesus, and they recognized Him when He broke bread. Lyte put this verse above his poem. He was asking Jesus to do for him what He did for them: come in, stay, and make Himself known as the darkness falls.
2. Psalms 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. By September 1847 Lyte's doctors could do nothing more for him. He was leaving his home and his people. Psalm 46 names the help that remains when every other help is gone: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. A very present help means a help that is close at hand, not far away. Help of the helpless is one of the most moving titles for God in any hymn, and it is exactly what the psalmist describes.
3. James 4:14
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day. Lyte was fifty-four and knew his time was short. James puts every life in perspective: For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Lyte compares a lifetime to a single day, with its morning, noon and evening, and an ebbing tide, a picture he could see from his window above Brixham harbor. Earth's joys grow dim. This is not gloom for its own sake. It is the clear sight that makes a person reach for what will last.
4. Malachi 3:6
"For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou, who changest not, abide with me. This may be the best-known line Lyte ever wrote, and it rests on God's own words: For I am the LORD, I change not. Everything else in the hymn is moving: the tide, the daylight, the singer's health. God alone stays the same. Hebrews 13:8 says the same about Jesus: the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. When your circumstances are falling apart, the unchanging character of God is the solid ground under your feet.
Come, Friend of sinners: healing in His wings
5. Malachi 4:2
"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall."
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings; but kind and good, with healing in Thy wings. The image comes from the last chapter of the Old Testament: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. Lyte knew that Christ will one day come as Judge and King. But at his deathbed he asked for Jesus to come as the healer, the friend at the bedside. Charles Wesley used the same verse in Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Christians read it as a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
6. Matthew 11:19
"The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me. Jesus' critics meant it as an insult. They called Him a friend of publicans and sinners. Lyte took the insult and turned it into a title of hope. A dying man who, as stanza 5 admits, had often been rebellious and perverse, did not ask Jesus to come as a judge who would weigh his record. He asked Him to come as a friend of sinners. That is the only basis on which any of us can ask Jesus to stay with us. He welcomes people who do not deserve Him.
7. Psalms 71:17
"O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works."
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile. Lyte was orphaned in effect as a boy, abandoned by his father and losing his mother young, and he was raised largely by the kindness of a schoolmaster. Looking back, he saw God's favor over all of it. The psalmist says: O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. The next verse of Psalm 71 is a prayer for old age: forsake me not. Lyte's stanza is the same prayer: You have not left me, though I often left You; stay with me to the end.
8. 1 Corinthians 10:13
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
What but Thy grace can foil the Tempter's power? Lyte did not imagine that dying people are past temptation. Fear, bitterness and doubt can press hardest at the end. Paul promises: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. The way of escape is not our own strength but God's grace and presence. Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me: Lyte asks for Jesus in good days as well as bad, because both bring their own temptations.
In life and death, O Lord, abide with me
9. Psalms 23:4
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless. David's most famous psalm stands behind this stanza: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. The reason for fearlessness is not that the valley is safe. It is that the Shepherd walks through it with His sheep. Lyte's prayer abide with me is the prayer of Psalm 23 put into the first person. For a closer look at the psalm, see our page on Psalm 23 meaning.
10. 1 Corinthians 15:55
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? Lyte quotes Paul almost word for word: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Paul is mocking death, because Christ's resurrection has drawn its sting. The sting of death is sin, he explains, and Jesus has dealt with sin on the cross. So a believer can say, with Lyte, I triumph still. It is a remarkable line from a man coughing his life away. It is why the hymn is sung at so many Christian funerals: it does not deny grief, but it refuses to let death have the last word.
11. Psalms 30:5
"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee. The hymn begins at eventide and ends at dawn. David wrote: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. For Lyte, death was the night, and heaven was the morning on the other side of it. The shadows of earth are vain, meaning empty and passing, compared with the light that is coming. The whole hymn moves from falling darkness to breaking day. That movement is the shape of Christian hope: the darkness is real, but it is not the end.
12. Romans 14:8
"For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."
In life and death, O Lord, abide with me. Lyte's final line sums up Paul's confidence: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For a Christian, life and death are not two different masters. Both belong to the same Lord. Lyte asked for Christ's presence in life and in death, and he believed he would have it in both. That is why the hymn can be sung by the young and by the dying, at a football final and at a graveside. Wherever you are on the road, you can pray its last line.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, abide with me. When the darkness deepens and other helpers fail, be the help of the helpless. In a world of change and decay, You change not; be my solid ground. Come to me not in terrors but as the Friend of sinners, kind and good, with healing in Your wings. You have not left me, though I have often left You. Stay with me through cloud and sunshine, and when my last evening comes, hold Your cross before my eyes and let heaven's morning break. In life and death, O Lord, abide with me. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Abide with Me?
Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), an Anglican pastor in Lower Brixham, Devon, wrote the words in September 1847, about two months before he died of tuberculosis in Nice, France. The poem was printed in his Remains (1850). The tune almost always used today, Eventide, was written by William Henry Monk for Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861. A story says Monk wrote it in ten minutes, but he himself said it was written at a time of great sorrow.
How many verses does Abide with Me have?
Lyte wrote eight stanzas, all printed on this page. Most hymnals print five of them: verses 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8. The three that are usually left out (Not a brief glance I beg, Come not in terrors, and Thou on my head in early youth didst smile) are some of the most personal in the poem, so they are worth reading even if your church does not sing them.
Why is Abide with Me sung at the FA Cup Final?
Abide with Me has been sung before the English FA Cup Final since 1927, a tradition said to have been encouraged by King George V and Queen Mary, who loved the hymn. For decades it was also played at the Beating Retreat ceremony in India, reportedly because it was a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi (it was dropped from the program in 2022), and it is often sung at Remembrance and Anzac Day services and at funerals.
Is Abide with Me appropriate for a funeral?
Yes. It is one of the most frequently chosen funeral hymns in the English-speaking world. It was written by a dying man as a prayer for Christ's presence through death, and it ends with resurrection hope: Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee. Verses 1, 2, 7 and 8 are the usual funeral selection. See also our Bible verses about death for readings to go with it.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Death · Comfort and Strength · Psalm 23 Meaning · God Always Being With Us · It Is Well with My Soul · Psalm 46 · Heaven · The Old Rugged Cross
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