The first time I heard this hymn was at the funeral of a friend. It instantly became my favourite, to the point that when N.T. Wright criticized it in his “Surprised by Hope” I felt myself turned off from his theology forever (irrational though it might have been).
Henry Francis Lyte, the author of this hymn had a fascinating biography. Having studied with the Anglo-Irish ascendency in Trinity College, Dublin, Lyte was everything most of the common folk around him despised. Though a priest in the Church of England, he admitted he had little faith, and laughed at the fervency of the evangelicals around him and the credulity of the Roman Catholics beneath him. Yet at the dying bedside of one of his liberal theological mentors, his departing friend expressed grief and regret over not taking the words of the Scriptures seriously enough.
This led to a dramatic evangelical conversion for Lyte, who then turned to the folks he previously mocked. Marrying a fiery Methodist wife, Lyte devoted the rest of his life to Christian fatherhood in his personal life and parish. He even made an historic impact when he signed one of Wilberforce’s petitions to help end the slave trade.
Nearing death, before his last sermon, Lyte -dying from tuberculosis- wrote his famous hymn: “Abide With Me”. It was a favourite of Kings George V and VI, and Edith Cavell (considered a marytr in England) was said to have sung it before her German firing squad. It is now, the national hymn of England.
To hear it, click the link below