Read: Psalm 90; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; Revelation 22:12-16
When considering songs to sing for Advent and Christmas there are many great hymns and upbeat jingles to proclaim the coming of Christ our King. Very few would consider the hymn “Abide With Me: fast falls the eventide” by Henry F. Lyte to put it into an Advent service and you certainly wouldn’t expect to find carolers singing it on your front porch.
However, I believe the lyrics and themes of this song capture something inherent to the believer’s journey as they wait for the Lord’s coming. This theme seems aptly appropriate for these winter months when the sun sets early and the shortest day of the year quickly approaches.
“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 I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
4 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.
5 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.”
~Lift Up Your Hearts, 2013
Written near the end of its author’s life, this song was inspired by Luke 24:29, in which the travelers to Emmaus tell Jesus, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening.” While many hymnals include the song in a section to be sung in the evening, many people believe this is a misplacement. Although the text refers to the darkening hour, “evening” is a metaphor for the close of one’s life, not a reference to the ending of the day.
This hymn of comfort is often sung at funerals or memorial services, during healing services, Easter vigil services (especially stanza four), or on New Year’s Eve. It acknowledges that though our lives are always changing, sometimes in joy and sometimes in sorrow, God remains steadfast. Thus, it is a perfect hymn of response to an assurance of this steadfastness.
Moses expresses the steadfastness of God’s promises in Psalm 90 espousing many similar themes:
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.” ~ Psalm 90: 1-6
David’s prayer in 2 Samuel 7 reminds us of God’s covenant and His steadfast love for His people, acknowledging the trustworthiness and goodness of God’s promises.
All of these should be reminders and comforts to us as believers that as we wait for the Lord’s Advent it is as if the sun is setting and the evening is falling. Should we pass away before Christ’s return, His covenant and promise still hold true and we shall be united to Christ as that final dusk falls and we are ushered into His glorious day. That is why for the Christian, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
A commentary on the hymn “Abide With Me” says this,
“According to an edition of the British Weekly, in the late summer of 1847, after preaching his final sermon, knowing his time on earth was drawing to a close, Henry Francis Lyte “walked in the valley garden in front of the home, then down to the rocks, where he sat and composed. It was a lovely sunny day and the sun was setting over distant Dartmoor in a blaze of glory. On the left lay Brixham harbor like a pool of molten gold, with its picturesque trawling vessels lying peacefully at anchor. After the sun had set, Lyte returned to his study. His family thought he was resting, but he was putting the finishing touches to his immortal hymn” (Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns, 171). Later that fall, Lyte passed away, but his hymn has indeed endured through the years as a beloved hymn of peace and prayer in the face of change. Theodore L. Cuyler once relayed a story in which a dying woman recited this hymn as she lay in bed during her last hours. He writes, “As I came away from that room, which had been as the vestibule of heaven, I understood how the ‘light of eventide’ could be only a flashing forth of the overwhelming glory that plays for ever[sic] around the throne of God” (Sankey, My Life and Sacred Songs, 57). What a beautiful image when we see the light of day ebbing – this light is only a shadow of the light of life that shines forth from Christ.”
As we move through Advent towards Christmas Eve and as night falls I encourage you to look towards the horizon, searching for and eagerly awaiting the promised coming of the “Bright Morning Star”.
Blessings,
Jory
Reformed in Tualatin 