Abide With Me; Fast Falls the Eventide

This has become one of my favorite hymns.  It is simply beautiful.  Normally thought of as evening hymn, this song goes well beyond that.  It speaks to life, to death, His resurrection, and our resurrection with Him.  In life and in death, He abides with us.   It is He that help of helpless.  He does not change.  Fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens, however our Father abides with us. This is a hymn of tremendous comfort.

A great discussion with Pr. Todd Wilken and Dr. Arthur aired on Issues, Etc. recently, as they commented on the history and some of the theological implications of the hymn.  I highly recommend listening to it.


Abide With Me; Fast Falls the Eventide




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.


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 foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, 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 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 Lyte



Lyte wrote the poem in 1847 and set it to music while he lay dying from tuberculosis; he died only three weeks after composing the hymn.


Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psalm 73:23-26 ESV)

The Tree of Life With Ev'ry Good

A beautiful new hymn that was introduced to me by my wife.  It was sung during the distribution of the Lord's Supper last week.  (Unfortunately I missed going to the Divine Service last week).  The hymn is written by Pr. Stephen Starke.  A beautiful hymn of justification and Christ's work on the cross...




The tree of life with ev'ry good
In Eden's holy orchard stood,
And of its fruit so pure and sweet
God let the man and woman eat.
Yet in this garden also grew
Another tree, of which they knew,
Its lovely limbs with fruit adorned
Against whose eating God had warned.

The stillness of that sacred grove
Was broken as the serpent strove
With tempting voice to Evil beguile
And Adam too by sin defile.
O day of sadness when the breath
Of fear and sadness, doubt and death,
Its awful poison first displayed
Within the world, so newly made.

What mercy God showed to our race,
A plan of rescue by His grace
In sending One from woman's seed,
The One to meet our greatest need -
For on a tree uplifted high
His only Son for sin would die,
Would drink the cup of scorn and dread
To crush the ancient serpent's head.

Now from that tree of Jesus' shame
Flows life eternal in His name:
For all who trust and will believe
Salvation's living fruit receive.
And of that fruit, so pure and sweet,
The Lord invites the world to eat,
To find within this cross of wood
The tree of life with ev'ry good. (LSB 561)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.   (Revelation 22:1-2)

Luther's First Hymn...

Thanks to Chaplain Mike from the Internet Monk for a good post on Luther's hymn writing and spotlighting his first hymn, Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice.  I am appreciating the hymns we sing in the Lutheran service. Compared to the 7/11 type song (7 words repeated 11 times) and how it gets so monotonous, the hymns in the Lutheran Service Book that we sing are so rich and beautiful and seem to carry much more weight.



 
The first commenter from the Internet Monk blog asked a good question that I want to do some research on:

Question: Did Luther compose his hymns with the goal of

a) having them be broadly acceptable all churchgoers,

b) pushing his own theological agenda, or

c) same as b, but unconsciously?

He also asks:

I also wonder about the transition between this style of hymnody, and the Catholic liturgy which it replaced. Some PBS special explained that his songs were actually sung more as political anthems (or football club songs?), with a much faster tempo and more enthusiastic elocution than is customary for churches today.

If anyone has any information regarding this, please feel free to post any comments.