Saturday, March 26, 2011

Christian Poetry - Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847)

Poems by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847)

"Abide With Me"

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide:
The darkness deepens: Lord with me abide:
When other helpers fall, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

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.

I need thy presence every passing hour;
What but thy grace can fil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

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.

Hold thou the cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and poing me to they skies:
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord abide with me.

1 comment:

  1. ABIDE IN ME

    Jesus was very clear in what we must do in order to have Him ABIDE in us and we in Him.

    He left this command for us in John 6:53-57, and it is the only place in Holy Scripture in which you will find it:

    53 " Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (the taken away branch);

    54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

    55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

    56 HE WHO EATS MY FLESH AND DRINKS MY BLOOD ABIDES IN ME, AND I IN HIM.

    57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."


    What does "Truly, truly" mean to you in verse 53? What does "unless" mean?

    The body lives because it receives real food sustenance. Starve the body and it will die.

    Just as the body needs real sustenance, so does the soul, else it will not bear fruit.

    The soul lives by real Divine sustenance, the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

    ReplyDelete