Join this HeartCry Prayer- Every Wednesday 11.30am-2.30pm (UK time)
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.
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.
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.
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, Lord, abide with 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.
6. 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, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Henry F. Lyte
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HENRY FRANCIS LYTE – AUTHOR OF ‘ABIDE WITH ME’
A Scottish Anglican Divine and hymn-writer was born on June
1, 1793 and died on Nov 20, 1847 after a long battle with pulmonary diseases
(Tuberculosis), aged only 54.
He was the second of three sons born to Thomas and Anna Lyte. His father, described as a never do well, deserted the family shortly after making arrangements for his two older sons to attend Portoral Royal School. Anna then moved to London with her youngest son where the both soon died. The headmaster at Portora, Dr Robert Burrowes, recognising Henry’s sterling abilities paid his fees and welcomed him into his own family.
He was the second of three sons born to Thomas and Anna Lyte. His father, described as a never do well, deserted the family shortly after making arrangements for his two older sons to attend Portoral Royal School. Anna then moved to London with her youngest son where the both soon died. The headmaster at Portora, Dr Robert Burrowes, recognising Henry’s sterling abilities paid his fees and welcomed him into his own family.
After graduating from Trinity College Dublin, and with very
limited training for the ministry (he
had wanted to be a doctor), he took the Anglican holy orders in 1815.
A tall and particularly handsome man, slightly eccentric but
of great personal charm, noted for his wit and human understanding. A born poet
and an able scholar, he spoke Latin, Greek and French Lyte lived a modest, humble
life devoted to the study of the Bible. He wrote many poems and hymns, especially from the Psalms. He married Anne Maxwell in 1817, they had two daughters and
three sons.
Lyte’s first work was Tales in Verse illustrative of several of the petitions in the Lord’s prayer (1826)
Lyte’s first work was Tales in Verse illustrative of several of the petitions in the Lord’s prayer (1826)
In 1833 – A collection of poems and hymns he titled ‘The Spirit of the Psalms’ He is credited with about 89 hymns, the best known of which
are: 'Praise my Soul the King of Heaven' and 'Abide With me Fast Fall the Eventide'.
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ABIDE WITH
ME FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE
Lyte wrote this hymn and preached on it two months before
his death. Orphaned at a young age, coupled with his long battle with
ill health, Lyte was gravely discouraged when numbers of his congregation (including
in 1846, nearly his entire choir) left him for Dissenter congregations, so he
wrote the lyrics to this hymn in September 1846 and died two months later.
It is the most published hymn of all time. The inspiration for the hymn came to Lyte from Luke 24:29. “But they urged and insisted, saying to Him,
Remain with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. So He
went in to stay with them.” AMP.
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PRAYERS
Mal. 3: 3-4, 2 Cor. 12: 6-10
Mal. 3: 3-4, 2 Cor. 12: 6-10
- Lord, as You found in Henry LYTE a yielded vessel, in spite of his challenges, I have no excuse for withholding myself from You.
- Let those challenges be a catalyst to advance Your work in me and through me – Phil 1:12.
- Give me grace in my weaknesses so that Your power may rest upon and be made manifest in and through me.
