This hymn is dated somewhere around 1820 when the Scottish composer Lyte was visiting a dying friend and wrote this hymn. The dying man kept repeating “abide with me…” that inspired Lyte. 27 years later as Lyte himself was dying from tuberculosis, remembered these lines he had written based on Luke 24:29. Jesus on Easter evening started walking with Cleopas and friend on the road to Emmaus. They asked Jesus to “abide” with them as evening was coming. He broke bread with them, they recognized him, and then he vanished.
Lyte’s daughter, Anna Maria Maxwell Hogg, recorded remembering how her father seemed to be failing and the family begged him not to preach what was to be his last sermon. He insisted that “it was better to wear out than to rust out.” He preached and later gave the hymn to a relative. On November 20, 1847, Lyte died in Nice. The song was sung for the first time at his funeral.
As you prepare for church tomorrow and are challenged to consider again what it means to abide in Christ, may you enjoy this hymn to prepare your heart. Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 