I wrote last week of Alister McGrath’s new biography of C.S. Lewis (C. S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet). Fifty years after his death, Lewis remains a fascinating, prophetic figure and a much-loved author. His insights into the Bible were often very interesting but it is his insights into human nature that I find even more helpful. At one point McGrath writes about Lewis’ understanding of poetry and here I found truth that is applicable all over the Christian life.

For Lewis, poetry works not by directing attention to the poet, but to what the poet sees: “The poet is not a man who asks me to look at him; he is a man who says ‘look at that’ and points.” The poet is not a “spectacle” to be viewed, but a “set of spectacles” through which things are to be seen. The poet is someone who enables us to see things in a different way, who points out things we otherwise might not notice. Or again, the poet is not someone who is to be looked at, but someone who is to be looked through.

“The poet is not someone who is to be looked at, but someone who is to be looked through.” That is profound. Lewis wanted the poet to disappear behind his words, behind his medium, and to draw attention not to himself but to what was so important to him. It was only the few and the sublime poets who could do this. This truth is pround and applicable far beyond poetry.

The preacher is not someone who is to be looked at, but someone who is to be looked through. The task of the preacher is not to stand before the church and be seen and recognized as a great man or even a great preacher. The task of the preacher is to draw the minds and hearts of his listeners to God. He has failed in his calling is he is looked at instead of looked through.

Sex isn’t selling: This is the headline of an issue of Canadian Business magazine. Of course it’s long been one of the truisms of marketing—sex sells. But this article contends that for the first time in recent memory sex no longer accomplishes what it once did; it no longer piles up the profits.

The focus of the article is pornography and its coming decline. The author contends that pornography has been unable to adapt to the new realities of the Internet, realities that dictate that everything must be free, or at least everything that can be shared in bits and bytes. Porn producers are reporting that they have seen revenue fall 80% from their best days; Playboy is bleeding money and laying off staff; actors who were once paid $2,000 for a single scene are now being offered just half of that; revenue for major distributors has fallen precipitously.

Pornography’s woes can partly be blamed on the economy—when people are in danger of missing a mortgage payment or are out of work, splurging on porn can be a bit of a stretch. But even more so, pornography has been victimized by a cultural shift. “The characteristics that once made sexual content a valuable commodity—the inaccessibility, the taboo—have evaporated.” Cable television is now full of the kind of full-on nudity and sexuality that was once relegated to the porn channels and porn stores. Such a change has been swift. It was not too long ago that a movie like Basic Instinct was considered shocking and edgy; today it would barely make a ripple. “In 1995, Calvin Klein faced an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department on allegations its advertisements constituted child pornography; now, American Apparel can barely draw press coverage by using actual porn stars in porny poses in its ads.” The dirtiness of what made porn enticing, the allure of it, is now fading, lost in the background of a sexualized, pornified culture. This is not to say that people don’t want sex and porn anymore—just that they won’t pay for it and that it won’t compel them to spend money. It’s become a boring kind of addiction or obsession, not a particularly interesting or exciting one.

A third factor cutting into porn’s profits is a simple reality of the Web today, that people want everything to be free and if it isn’t free, they think nothing of taking it. We have grown accustomed to hearing that pornography is a business that grosses $10 billion a year in the United States. Pornographers say this is ridiculous and suggest the actual number could be less than a tenth of that. Not only is pornography widely pirated, but it has also been unable to make the leap to new realities. “Porn has been at the forefront of every modern leap from VCRs to the Internet, but Web 2.0, dominated by these tube and file-sharing sites, is the first technology in a century that pornographers have failed to exploit.” The industry has been forced to react by giving away more content for free and this necessarily cuts into profits. There’s an old saying on the Internet: If you paid for porn, you flunked the Internet. This is more true today than ever. The new reality on the Net is that if it’s not free, people will either ignore it or pirate it. But they won’t pay in sufficient numbers to keep the industry afloat.

This article in Canadian Business suggests that the porn industry is not only in decline, but in danger of imminent collapse and death. Unless it finds a way of reinventing itself, and doing so soon, it will go into eclipse. It is simple economics.

In 1787 Dr. John Rippon published A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors as a supplement to Isaac Watts’ classic Psalms and Hymns. The book was an immense success. “The remarkable feature of the book,” writes Louis Benson, “is the great number of original hymns secured by him and there first printed.” Among these original hymns was the title “How Firm a Foundation.”

As you can see in this facsimile of the original publication, Rippon attributed the authorship simply to “K----.” He says in the preface that such attributions meant either that the author was unknown or that the hymn had undergone significant revisions for publication.

Later studies have revealed that the “K----” almost certainly referred to R. Keene, who was at one time a song leader in Dr. Rippon’s church and is also known to have authored the hymn’s melody. Apart from this, we have no further information about its writing.

Features

Perhaps the most noteworthy and appreciated feature of this hymn is how closely it resembles the words of the Bible itself (which is fitting, given that its theme is the solidity of the word of God).

Consider, for example, how stanza 2 compares to Philippians 4:12-13:

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Or how stanza 3 echoes Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

(See also how stanzas 4 and 5 reflect Isaiah 43:2.)

Influence

Since its publication, “How Firm a Foundation” has enjoyed wide acceptance, especially in North America. It is known to have been the favorite hymn of General Robert E. Lee and was sung at his funeral. It is also said that once, while conducting evening prayers in Princeton Seminary’s Oratory, Dr. Charles Hodge was so overcome with feeling during the last line of the hymn (“I’ll never, no never, no never forsake,” from Hebrews 13:5) that he could no longer sing but only gesture the words.

Here are the much-loved words. Note that the second-to-last verse is rarely sung anymore due to its antiquated language. 

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.

Download It

The band Ordinary Time recently recorded a version of this hymn. I asked if they would be willing to give it away for free (I’m shameless that way) and they generously agreed. You can download it free here. (The site allows you to give a tip but they are very glad for you to simply download it without a tip!)

On the outskirts of ancient Rome stands what remains of the villa owned by Livia Drusilla, wife to Caesar Augustus, Rome's first and greatest Emperor. Though the villa was discovered and explored as far back as the 16th century, serious excavations did not begin until the 1860's. In 1863 these excavations uncovered a remarkable work of art, the statue that would come to be known as Augustus of Prima Porta. Livia kept this marble statue of her husband, itself a copy of a bronze commissioned in 20 B.C. to celebrate Augustus' great triumph over the Parthians. This statue is the first of the twenty-five objects through which we will explore the history of Christianity.

Born Gaius Octavius, Augustus was the great-nephew and eventual heir of Julius Caesar. Following his uncle’s murder, Augustus successfully defeated the assassins and overcame all challenges to power. In 27 B.C. the Senate crowned him Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus--Emperor Caesar Exalted One Son of God. He would rule for over forty years. The great poet Virgil would write of him

Behold the man--the promised one, of whom you know--
Caesar Augustus, son of a god, predestined to rule
And to restore the Golden Age to Latium,
Where Saturn used to rule. His empire will extend
Beyond the Garamants and Indians, over lands
In the far north and south of the stars of the zodiac
And the yearly path of the sun...

Augustus' ascension and the strength of his rule ushered in a time of peace and stability that historians have called the Pax Romana or "Roman Peace." This was Rome's golden age of cultural, scientific and architectural advance. And this, the Pax Romana, provides the context for the dawn of Christian history. So strong was Augustus and so powerful what he set in place that peace would endure for over 200 years despite the weak rulers that would follow.

But the Pax Romana was not a peace for all people. Though Rome had peace from civil war and serious internal challenges, she continued to assert her military might over the known world. Under Julius Caesar Rome had already been dominant in western Europe, but under Augustus her armies extended through eastern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. Luke, the church's earliest historian, records that "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered" (Luke 2:1). When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Galilee, he was born into a town and province subject to Rome and her Emperor.

In Augustus of Prima Porta we see this Emperor at the very height of his power. Like today's politicians, Augustus protected his image carefully and used it to convey something of his strength and attributes. Here he is young, athletic, powerful. His face is youthful and handsome, his right arm is raised in an address to his legions, his left leg is bent as he strides forward. This may not be an accurate portrayal of the man as he was, but certainly it is the man as he wished to be revered and remembered.

Under his rule Rome did not only extend her empire but also consolidated and strengthened it. As the Roman armies conquered, officials followed behind to build the infrastructure necessary to support a mighty empire. Ports sprang up around the Mediterranean, the pirates that had once plied the seas were nearly eradicated, bandits and rebels were hunted down, and carefully-constructed roads connected one province to the next so that it could be said, "All roads lead to Rome." These were the ports that would transport the earliest missionaries across peaceful seas and the roads that would allow the spread of Christianity to mimic the conquests of Rome, though where Rome conquered with sword and spear, Christians would conquer with a very different kind of weapon. Augustus even advocated religious tolerance, allowing other faiths to co-exist with Roman polytheism. His Pax Romana provided the infrastructure and stability that would allow the faith to spread far and fast.

Yet in Augustus of Prima Porta we see the roots of the greatest challenge of the church's infancy. At Augustus' right side is Cupid astride a dolphin, reminding his subjects that he, like Julius Caesar before him, is descended from the Venus, the goddess of love. His bare feet both symbolize and declare his divinity, for where a mere man goes to war wearing boots, a god strides into battle barefoot. Augustus is not only a mighty Emperor, but a son of the gods.

I have long had a love of history and so often find in the past the wisdom that informs and addresses present difficulties. Each generation--even each generation of Christians--suffers from self-obsession, and as we move forward in time and progress, we do well to keep one eye on the past, to consider not only where we wish to go, but also from whence we have come. Christianity has a long and storied past that testifies constantly to God’s enduring grace. We ignore it at our peril.

Though so much of Christian history has passed away, though so many of its people and objects have been lost to time, a few precious relics remain. When we look at these objects with careful eye, when we consider them in their context, we see in them the history of the Christian faith. In this new series of articles I have chosen twenty-five of these objects and through them wish to explore the history of this faith we hold so dear, the history of what God is accomplishing in this world, whether through princes or peasants, whether through triumph or trial.

Each of these objects offers us a tangible link between the present and the past, between the Christians of the twenty-first century and the Christians who lived and died in centuries past. In a few cases these objects are hidden away or in private collections, but more commonly they are there for all who wish to see them. We can travel to museums and galleries, look at these objects, and see in them a link to history--our history. This, then, is the history of Christianity in twenty-five objects.

The series will begin with the earliest relics of the earliest Christians and carry us to the present day. As we journey through the history of the church we will look at the importance of a peculiar little scrawl of graffiti and the creedal significance of an otherwise unremarkable carving. We will take a leap forward in time to consider the long labor of monks and the martyrdom of Christians who called for reform long before Luther. We will look at pulpits and paintings and posters and even pieces of machinery. And, of course, we will look to books and the remains of books, for perhaps nothing has so charted and maintained the course of Christian history as its books.

We will begin with a statue that represents the context in which the church was birthed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In this statue we see the promise of the spread of the gospel and we see a shadow of its most fearsome opposition.

Allow me a word about the format of this series. I intend to write one article on each of the twenty-five objects I have identified, with the first article coming tomorrow and one following every week or two as I am able to complete the research. I chose these objects with the assistance of a long list of books. I subsequently shared the collection with several professors of church history who have kindly offered helpful feedback. I write this series not as an expert on church history but as a student, eager to learn and eager to share what I have discovered.

In the late 18th century, philosopher Jeremy Bentham designed the panopticon. This was a new kind of prison that would allow every (“-pan”) prisoner to be under the gaze, or potential gaze (“opticon”) of a guard at all times. This prison would be circular and have the general appearance of a wheel. Cells were to be arrayed in tiers along the outer wall while the center, the spoke, would hold an inspection tower for the guards. Because one-way glass had not yet been invented, Bentham imagined various means through which the guards could conceal their presence. Prisoners would know the guards were in the tower, they would know that at any moment the guards might be looking at them, but they would never be able to tell exactly when this was happening.

Authors Ben and Marthalee Barton describe this kind of institution.

The architecture incorporates a tower central to a circular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows. The occupants of the cells are thus backlit, isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny both collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Toward this end, Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also maze-like connections among tower rooms to avoid glints of light or noise that might betray the presence of an observer.

Benthem believed that such an institution would allow a small number of guards to oversee a large number of inmates. He believed that when prisoners knew they were potentially being watched, they would remain compliant. The prisoners would never know if the guard had turned his back and thus they would never feel liberty to take advantage of solitude.

Benthem imagined that this concept might be extended beyond prisons to asylums and factories--even daycares and schools. In the end few panopticons were built; there are a handful prisons in the world that followed some of Bentham’s principles, but few were able to overcome the architectural and technological constraints. It was not until the advent of CCTV that we could capture his vision of the invisible, all-seeing eye.

My Jesus I Love Thee” is a sweet expression of love for the Savior that flows directly from the author’s experience of the Savior’s love for him. A remarkable thing about “My Jesus I Love Thee” is that it was not penned by an aged and experienced hymn-writer like so many of our favorite hymns. Rather, it was originally written as a devotional poem by Willam Ralph Featherston, a teenager who had recently come to faith.

Not much is known about Featherston, except that he attended a Methodist church in Montreal, that he was young when he wrote the poem (12 or 16 years old), and that he died at just 27 years of age. One story about how the poem became public is that Featherston mailed it to his aunt in Los Angeles who, upon reading it, quickly sought its publication.

It wasn’t until several years after Featherston’s death that Adoniram Judson Gordon (founder of Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary [pictured to the right]) added a melody and published it in his book of hymns, thus forever transforming this poem to a song.

As we consider the words of the poem, it is clear to see why Gordon deemed it worthy of wider attention. As we sing Featherson’s words we are all able to declare our intimacy with Christ, to sing of our assurance of salvation, to celebrate the gospel, to delight in Christ’s loveliness, and to resolve to praise Christ through all circumstances. The movement of each of these themes extends from now—this very moment—into eternity.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

You can find a recent recording on the album Hymns from Page CXVI. You can download it for free (until March 31) at pagecxvi.com/jubilee/. Another excellent and recent recording of this hymn can be found on the album Depth of Mercy by Red Mountain Music. Listen here.

You cannot follow the news these days, and especially technological news, without reading about the perils of sitting. Yes, sitting. In a recent TED talk Nilofer Merchant explained “People spend 9.3 hours per day on their derrieres, eclipsing even the 7.7 hours they spend sleeping. Their sedentary lifestyles contribute 10 percent of the risk of breast and colon cancer, 6 percent of the risk of heart disease, and 7 percent of the risk of type 2 diabetes.” 

“Sitting is so incredibly prevalent that we don't even question how much we're doing it ," Merchant told the TED audience. "And because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't even occur to us that it's not OK."

"In that way, sitting has become the smoking of our generation."

Merchant is far from alone in declaring the dangers of our sedentary office lifestyles. All over the news we find people warning us that all our sitting is killing us.

One of the common solutions is using a standing desk in place of, or in addition to, a normal sitting desk. I am a restless person who is always tapping my foot, shaking my leg or otherwise being annoying. I was just beginning to look into purchasing a standing desk when I was offered an UpDesk if I would consider sharing a review.

The UpDesk is a new product and a unique one in that it goes up and down, allowing it to be both a standing and sitting desk. One version uses a crank while another is electronic. I have been using it for about a month now and have been considering three different things: the value of a standing desk, the value of a desk that can be used for both sitting and standing, and UpDesk’s implementation of each of these.

A Standing Desk. I have enjoyed using a standing desk. It takes some adjustment to do standing what I am accustomed to doing sitting. I found typing, reading, and studying simple enough, but struggled with handwriting. Standing is particularly helpful in the afternoon when my energy is beginning to lag a little bit. Though it seems counter-intuitive, I actually gain energy and focus by standing up instead of sitting.

A Standing & Sitting Desk. While I have enjoyed using a standing desk, I do not want to stand all the time. This is especially true early in the morning and late at night. Standing through a complete 8 or 10 hour workday would be too draining. The ability to have a standing or sitting desk and to be able to transition back-and-forth is brilliant. Most people wind up having two different desks but it is far better, I think, to have one that will do both.

Gospel-centeredness is all the rage today. We are told to live gospel-centered lives, to pray toward a gospel-centered faith, to have gospel-centered humility, to be gospel-centered parents, to form gospel-centered churches, to have gospel-centered marriages, to say goodbye at gospel-centered funerals. The gospel, we are told, must be central to all we are and all we do.

This is good. God really does mean for the gospel to be central to the lives of his people and to be right at the center of the church. Joe Thorn defines the gospel-centered life like this: “[T]he gospel-centered life is a life where a Christian experiences a growing personal reliance on the gospel that protects him from depending on his own religious performance and being seduced and overwhelmed by idols.” Meanwhile the gospel-centered church is “is a church that is about Jesus above everything else. That sounds a little obvious, but when we talk about striving to be and maintain gospel-centrality as a church we are recognizing our tendency to focus on many other things (often good and important things) instead of Jesus. There are really only two options for local churches; they will be gospel-centered, or issue driven.”

I recently went searching for all the gospel-centered books I could find, which is to say, books that explicitly mention “gospel-centered” (or a very close synonym) in the title. Then I went a little further afield and looked for books that clearly and unapologetically teach gospel-centeredness even without using the term in their title. It is an expansive list and one I have shared below.

The sheer volume of gospel-centered books caused me to pause and reflect on both the benefits and concerns of what is clearly a contemporary trend.

Concern: “Gospel-centered” is a relatively new term. In fact, of the books listed below, only a couple of them are more than 10 years old. This may lead us to believe that this generation has captured something unique and it may feed what C.S. Lewis refers to as our chronological snobbery. Yet Christians have been writing gospel-centered books for as long as there have been books, even if they haven’t used the term. John Owen may well be the most gospel-centered writer in Christian history but you won’t find him using those words.

Benefit: “Gospel-centered” reminds us time and again of the utter and essential centrality of the gospel to the Christian life and to the Christianity community. There is no area that is outside the purview of the gospel; there is no area the gospel does not speak to. We can see this simply by looking at the list below, and can see it more clearly by reading some of the books.

Concern: “Gospel-centered” is a popular term and one we may look to as a mark of conformity or orthodoxy, as if using the term is inherently good. However, in some cases it is more of a sales strategy than a theological distinction. Further, not every author means the same thing by it and some authors understand it more fully than others.

Benefit: “Gospel-centered” books are consistently and patiently teaching us that the gospel really does apply to every area of life. As the list below proves, the gospel has direct application to everything. (Note: There is not yet a “Gospel-Centered Sex” book; however, it is probably on the way and may well be very helpful! If a couple consistently applies the implications of the gospel to the marriage bed, they will inevitably have a healthier marriage.)

Concern: “Gospel-centered” is the flavor of the day and with all the material using the term, we will eventually grow weary of it. I think it is safe to predict that ten years from now we will not be publishing nearly as many books that explicitly use the term “gospel-centered.” The danger is not in growing weary of the term--terms come and go--but growing weary of gospel-centeredness itself.

Here, now, is the big list of Gospel-Centered Everything. I have no doubt that even now it is an incomplete list and have no doubt that there will be many titles to add in the months and years to come.

Abide with Me” is one of the best-loved English hymns of the past 150 years. We see this both in its enduring usage in churches today and in its ongoing appearances in modern culture (for example, in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics).

What about the hymn has made it so well loved?

The words, of course, have a lot to do with it. Each verse ends in the plea “abide with me,” making the hymn a sustained call for God’s personal presence in every stage and condition of life. The hymn resonates deeply with the hearts of those who feel their need of God. When Aileen and I suggested this song for our wedding we were told, “It’s a funeral song.” But we saw it as a deep challenge to seek God in all of life’s circumstances, till death do us part. We just went ahead and added it to the program.

Help of the helpless, O abide with me… .
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me… .
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me… .
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

The music has also given the hymn strong appeal. It has been sung to several different tunes over the years, with the most popular being “Eventide” by William Henry Monk, a particularly stirring melody. In 2007, Indelible Grace released a recording of the hymn featuring a fantastic new melody, which they have graciously made available as a free download (see below).

One other aspect of the hymn which may also contribute to its significance is the story of its author and the context in which he wrote it.

The author of the hymn, Henry Francis Lyte, was an Anglican priest and vicar of All Saints Church in Brixham, England. He was also a published poet and accomplished hymnwriter who also penned “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” and “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven.”. For most of his life Lyte suffered from poor health, and he would regularly travel abroad for relief, as was the tradition in that day. Nevertheless, he developed tuberculosis and, at the age of 54, came near to the end of his life. His daughter, Anna Maria Maxwell Hogg, recounts the story of how “Abide with Me” came out of that context.

The summer was passing away, and the month of September (that month in which he was once more to quit his native land) arrived, and each day seemed to have a special value as being one day nearer his departure.

His family were surprised and almost alarmed at his announcing his intention of preaching once more to his people. His weakness and the possible danger attending the effort, were urged to prevent it, but in vain. “It was better”, as he used to say often playfully, when in comparative health, “to wear out than to rust out”. He felt that he should be enabled to fulfil his wish, and feared not for the result. His expectation was well founded. He did preach, and amid the breathless attention of his hearers, gave them a sermon on the Holy Communion… .

In the evening of the same day he placed in the hands of a near and dear relative the little hymn, ‘Abide with Me’, with an air of his own composing, adapted to the words. (A Dictionary of Hymnology, Vol. 1)

Just weeks later, while on holiday in Nice, France, Henry Lyte went to be with Jesus. It was November 20th, 1847.

(The author’s handwritten version; click to see full-size)

Not many hymns have dramatic stories behind them. This one is not all that dramatic; but knowing that it was written by a man who was very near death at a relatively young age helps us feel its weight and sobriety all the more.

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.

Not 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.

Come 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.

Thou 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.

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.

Free Download

Indelible Grace has kindly offered their rendition of “Abide With Me” as a free download from NoiseTrade. It includes a PDF with the handwritten lyrics, lead sheet, chord chart, and piano sheet music. While you have the ability to leave a “tip” for the song, do feel free to take it for free (without guilty conscience! It is their gift to you). Also, if you’d like to buy any of Indelible Grace’s albums you can use the code ABIDE at the official store and get 20% off any CD.