亨利·莱特（Henry F. Lyte）. Explore “Abide with Me”: song information and official sources.
The pilgrim journey · Prayer and drawing near
Lyte's lung disease was already severe when he wrote this hymn. On 4 September 1847 he preached for the last time and handed over the manuscript. About eleven weeks later, on 20 November, he died. Its opening draws on the two disciples' words on the road to Emmaus: “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” (Luke 24:29). But the poem describes the evening of a life as well as a day. Its second stanza directly acknowledges life's declining day. It asks neither healing nor more years, but one thing: that the Lord remain. The final stanza asks him to lift the cross before fading eyes, turning attention away from oneself. Long used at funerals and national remembrance in the English-speaking world, it is also commonly sung at Chinese memorial services. At the bedside of someone dying, it can offer more comfort than many cheerful songs.
Memorials, funerals and evening prayer; accompanying brothers and sisters who are dying or chronically ill; teaching on companionship on the Emmaus road.