56 | Eventide. 10s
Evening of the Day.
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!
2 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.
3 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?
Thro’ cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!
4 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!
Henry Francis Lyte, 1847.