When the disciples came from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus and were about to enter their home, they turned to Jesus and said to Him courteously: "Abide with us: for it is toward evening and the day is far spent."
That invitation to Jesus has become famous because of the hymn, "Abide with me; fast falls the eventide . . ." Its author, Henry Francis Lyte, had close associations with Ireland. He was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, and Trinity College, Dublin. He took Holy Orders and became curate at Taghmon, near Wexford, in 1815. In 1823 he became curate of Lower Brixham, Devon, a fishing village. Here his health finally broke down and, Continental travel having failed to restore it, he died at Nice in 1847.
His hymn, Abide With Me, gained for this once obscure country clergyman a secure place in history and a lasting affection in the hearts of millions of believers in the world. He was a firm believer in the things that are unseen, as well as in those which are seen and temporal. Henry Francis Lyte will long be remembered as an interpreter of the deepest experiences of life, as one of those who "justify the ways of God to people", and who left an influence which has extended to the ends of the earth.
He preached his last sermon, bid farewell to his hardy flock of fishermen, and returned home to muse on the past and future. As he sat and contemplated the nearness of his death the inspiration of Abide With Me came to him in a flash ("Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day"). He wrote the words down, and when the news of his death came to Brixham a few weeks later, his beloved parishioners sang the famous hymn in their parish church for the first time.
Little did they realise then the far-reaching effect the hymn would have on succeeding generations of believers. And it began at Emmaus when the disciples remembered their good manners and invited Jesus to enter their home. By being hospitable to a "stranger" they found their urgent desire to believe in the resurrections of Jesus was answered as He revealed Himself - a lovely powerful answer to that simple prayer: "Abide with us".
We can say the prayer before any event in the day and find Him present with us, find our awareness of Him comes alive; or often we can say it when, like the disciples, we just have a deep longing for Him to come to us.
As we give thanks for the writer of the hymn we admit that its tune, composed by William Henry Monk, had much to do with its widespread appeal.
W.W.