Abide With Me

"Abide With Me" was written in 1847. Henry Lyte was in­spired to write the words to this hymn as he was dy­ing of tu­ber­cu­lo­sis. There are eight verses. All too often, for the sake of time or perhaps to help alleviate boredom, not all the verses are sung. I don't believe that should be the case when we sing hymns. They are meant as a message in their entirety. And I am amazed at the relevance that each hymn manages to maintain from one era to the next.

Mr. Lyte wrote the song as a prayer, much like I might find myself praying today. He asked the Lord to abide with him as he was feeling the darkness deepen. Imagine the despair he felt when he spoke of Earth's joys growing dim and referred to the change and decay in all he saw around him! Henry pleaded for the Lord, the Friend of sinners, to abide with him. He talked about being young and knowing that the Lord smiled down on him then; but as he grew older he knew the Lord never left him even though he was rebellious. He said he needed the Lord's presence every hour and nothing but His grace could foil the tempter's power. With God at his side, Mr. Lyte knew that everything would be alright until the very end.

This poor man was really pouring out his heart and soul for all to hear! His words have probably reached millions of people who can relate if even to a small extent. The bottom line is, as long as we abide with Christ, He will abide in us. We might mess up, but God will pull us up out of the muck and give us the grace we need to try again and again.

To quote a slightly more modern song, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your Faithfulness, oh Lord. Great is Your faithfulness!"