Sunday Devo -February 26, 2023

“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, oh, 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”

“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.”

These three verses of the old hymn Abide with Me, were written in 1847 by a Scottish Anglican cleric by the name of Henry Francis Lyte. The hymn is a prayer for God to stay with the songwriter throughout both life and death, and was written as his health failed and death was imminent, due to tuberculosis. What encouraging words, in the midst of a dark season… we can be thankful for faithful men and woman who have penned their petitions, prayers, and thanksgivings to God and blessed us with such beautiful hymns. The last verse seems to resonate with Romans 14:8.
-Roy