Abide with Me: the words of the hymn for a funeral

Henry Francis Lyte’s prayer for God’s presence as life’s evening falls, written in 1847 and published in 1850. He wrote eight verses; hymn books usually print five.

1Abide 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.

2Swift 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.

3Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,Familiar, condescending, patient, free,Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me!

4Come not in terrors, as the King of kings;But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings:Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea.Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me!

5Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee.On to the close, O Lord, abide with me!

6I 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.

7I 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.

8Hold Thou Thy Cross before my closing eyes;Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Text from archive.org. Public domain in the US and UK.

The BBC’s Songs of Praise describes it as one of the most sung hymns at funerals. (source)

Where it comes in the service

In a Church of England funeral hymns may be sung at any suitable point; the Church's own step-by-step guide places one once everyone has gathered and another after the prayers. At a Catholic funeral Mass there is an entrance song, Communion hymns and a closing hymn at the procession.

Commonly sung: verses 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (the five verses printed in Hymns Ancient and Modern, hymn 27, Standard Edition 1924, https://archive.org/details/hymnsancientmode0000notk). In step 5 you can tick exactly which verses to print.

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Copyright

Abide with Me is in the public domain in the United States (first published 1850) and in the United Kingdom (author died 1847; the Hymns Ancient and Modern wording used for five verses was printed by 1916 and its compilers' alterations are anonymous 19th-century work), so the words can be printed in a booklet without permission or a fee.

Printed here as in the source, except: Composite of two printings: verses 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 are the Hymns Ancient and Modern text (hymn 27); verses 3, 4, 5, which the hymnal omits, are from Lyte's own text in Remains (1850), https://archive.org/details/flaterev00lyte, checked against Miscellaneous Poems (1868), https://archive.org/details/miscellaneouspo00lyte.