Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 37 from your Gospel Hymn Spiral hymn
book. Number 37. Let's all stand together. Approach, my soul, the throne
of grace in every time of need. There's mercy for the needy one
who Jesus' name shall plead. Though I'm a weak and sinful
wretch, I will approach the throne. I'll lean upon Christ's mighty
arm and bleed His blood alone. The blood, the precious blood
of Christ has opened up the way by which I can draw near to God
and to my Father pray. Though Satan tempts my heart
to sin, I'll call upon my God. And if I fall, He'll lift me
up and cleanse me in the blood. The way is open, God will hear
my groans and cries of grief. Nothing can keep me from His
throne but my own unbelief. O Lord, my unbelief remove, and
turn my heart by grace. Compel me to approach your throne,
and there spread out my case. Please be seated. Good evening. Would you open
your Bibles with me please to Psalm 73 for our scripture reading,
Psalm 73. And the subject of this passage is
very relevant to what we're going to be looking at from Psalm 49
tonight. So trust the Lord will encourage
our hearts to know how we can escape fear in death. How we can escape fear in death. Psalm 73 verse 1, truly God is
good to Israel even to such as of are a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no
bands in their death, but their strength is firm. Isaiah 28 says
that they've made a covenant with death and with hell they're
in agreement. They don't fear death. They're not in trouble
as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore,
pride can pass at them about as a chain. Violence covereth
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak
wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore, his people return hither and waters of a
full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how does God know? And is there knowledge in the
Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the
world. They increase in riches. Verily,
I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning.
If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generations
of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of
God, then understood I their end. Let's pray together. Next Wednesday
night, we will not have our services here next Wednesday night. And
I know Robert and Deanna are leaving tomorrow. I pray the
Lord give you all safe travels. And Mary Wiginton has one brother. His name is Jim. He's 59, 58. And he's just been diagnosed
with stage four pancreatic cancer. And so pray for Mary and for
Jim. All right, let's pray together.
Our Heavenly Father, we confess to you, Lord, that
Our affections are much too strong in the things of this world.
Lord, we do look sometimes at the prosperity of the wicked
and we envy. And yet, Lord, when we come to
this place, we're reminded of their end and we're reminded
of our end. And oh, how we hope, Lord, that
you would be pleased to speak to our hearts and comfort us
and set our affections not on the things of this world but
on things above where Christ is seated at thy right hand.
Lord, that you would lift us out of this miry clay that we're
so prone to get bogged down in and enable us, Lord, to believe
you. Lord, we know that Our easily
besetting sin is the sin of unbelief, and oh, how we hope that you
would increase our faith as we hear thy word. And Lord, forgive
us for our many sins. Lord, we do pray for Mary and
pray you'd give her wisdom and give her grace to be able to
help her brother. And we pray for Jim, Lord, and
ask that you would cause him to have an interest in the gospel. Well, we thank you for Robert
and Deanna. We pray you give them safe travels and bring them back
to us safely. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's all stand together. Once
again, we'll sing hymn number 226 from the hardback hymnal,
226. I am not skilled to understand
what God hath will, what God hath plan. I only know at His
right hand is one who is my Savior. I take Him at His word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read. For in my heart I find a need
of Him to be my Savior. that he should leave his place
on high and come for sinful men to die. You counted straight,
so once did I, before I knew my Savior. And oh, that He fulfilled,
may see, The travail of His soul in me, And with His work contented
me, As I with my dear Saviour. Yea, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring That he who lives to be
my king Once died to be my Savior. Please be seated. Psalm 49. Will you open your
Bibles there with me, please? Psalm 49. I found out this morning that Savannah
has been in the hospital this week with kidney stones. And I guess she has septic, which
is pretty serious, and they're trying to treat that with antibiotics. She was actually supposed to
go home today, and I haven't heard whether she did or not,
but remember Savannah. Robert mentioned to me tonight
what a blessing the last verse of Psalm 48 was to him last week. And I want to begin this passage
in Psalm 49 by reading that last verse once again. For this God
is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. Even unto death. The unbeliever,
according to Psalm 73 that we just read, has no bands in their
death. They've made a covenant with death, withheld their in
agreement. They think everything's gonna
be fine. They've looked at their lives and they've considered
themselves acceptable for heaven or else they live in complete
denial of the reality of death. The child of God is the only
one who really understands the consequences of death and the
child of God as David said there in that psalm that we read is
constantly seeking hope and salvation in light of the inevitability
of death. And David declares here in this
psalm as we saw Sunday, for this God is our God forever and ever
and He will guide us even unto death, even unto death. Now the question that the Lord
is answering for us in Psalm 49 is found in verse 5. Wherefore
should I fear in the days of evil when the iniquity of my
heels shall come past me about? Now translated that verse means
how am I going to escape fear in death seeing that my sins
are ever before me? Now, that's every believer's.
How am I going to escape fear in death seeing that my sins
are ever before me? That's why we take death so seriously
because we understand the consequences of sin. Now, the Lord begins this psalm
by addressing all men. We make distinctions between
men. We distinguish the difference
between educated and uneducated men, rich men and poor men, male
and female. We make distinctions based on
physical appearances, but the Lord begins Psalm 49 by making
it clear that God is not a respecter of persons. He judges all men
by the same standard. All men, doesn't matter, whatever
distinctions we want to make, God doesn't see them. All men
are judged by the same standard and that standard is God's holy
law. And either you measure up to
God's law perfectly or you don't. So, the first two verses, the
Lord is making that clear. Look what he says, hear this
all ye people, give ear all ye inhabitants of the world, both
low and high, rich and poor together. This message is for everyone. I love thinking about the fact
that the gospel is timeless. timeless. David wrote these words
3,000 years ago and they are just as true and relevant to
today's life and culture as they were then. David's preaching
the same gospel that Moses preached 500 years before him. He's preaching
the same gospel that Paul preached 1,000 years after David and he's
preaching the same message that Spurgeon preached 150 years ago. The gospel of God's grace in
Christ Jesus is timeless. It's timeless. And it's irrespective
of culture. It's irrespective of color. It's
irrespective of political persuasions. It's irrespective of social standings. The same message is true for
all men. That's comforting. I don't have
to figure out how does this relate to me. It relates to me the same
way it relates to you and it relates to us the same way it
relates to every person that's ever been. Sinners are in need
of a Savior lest they face death and have to answer for their
sin. So the Lord begins by saying
Hear this, all ye people, give ear, all ye inhabitants of the
world, whether you be low or high, whether you be a peasant
or a king, it doesn't matter. It's the same thing is true for
both people, whether you be rich or poor, whether you be male
or female. My mouth shall speak of wisdom. What I'm about to tell you is
of utmost important and is eternally true. You can rest your immortal
soul on the trustworthiness of these words. So the Lord is admonishing
all men to pay special attention to about what he's about to say.
And only a fool would not. My mouth shall speak of wisdom
and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. He is compelling us to listen. Listen carefully to what I'm
about to tell you. I will incline mine ear to a
parable. I will open my dark sayings upon
the harp. Now though I'm calling all men
to hear, Only those who are able to understand the parable are
going to hear. Remember when the Lord said, when the disciples
said, Lord, why do you speak to them in parables? Why do you
speak to them in parables? Because it's not for them to
understand. It's for you to understand. And so the Lord saying, I'm going
to speak clearly. And but men as clear and simple
and true as this is, men will not hear it. They will continue
in darkness. They will live in denial. They
will not understand the parable. To those who have ears to hear,
it will be music to their ears. Look what he says. I will incline
mine ear to a parable. I will open my dark sayings upon
the harp. Those who have ears to hear,
this is going to be music to their ears because it's going
to explain to them how it is that they can face death without
the fear of wrath, without the fear of judgment. They're not
going to be, they're not going to be putting their hope in a
peace that's not true. The false prophets say peace,
peace, when there is no peace. Turn with me back, I made a reference
to Isaiah, forward to Isaiah chapter 28. Turn to me, turn
with me to that passage please. Isaiah 28. The Lord has written his word
in such a way as to give the unbeliever enough rope to hang
himself. And when God says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 that
I will send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie,
the means by which God sends them that strong delusion is
his word. It is his word. You listen to
what men put their hope in and they're quoting scripture. They're
quoting scripture. They're saying, well, God says,
whosoever will and I will. So therefore I am. Um, the Lord, the Lord has made his
word. He, he goes on, he says in this,
um, and this passage, uh, beginning in verse 10 for precept must
be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line
upon line here, little in there, little. For with stammering lips
and another tongue will he speak to this people." In other words,
I'm going to teach them little by little, line by line. I'm
going to reveal to them the answer to this question, how am I going
to face death without fear seeing that my sins are all about me. To whom he said, This is the
rest wherewith he may cause the weary to rest, and this is the
refreshing, yet they would not hear. I'm going to tell them
about the rest. I'm going to tell them about
the one who fulfilled all the demands of the law. I'm going
to tell them about the one who shed his precious blood to purchase
them, that they're not bought with silver and gold or corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of the Lamb of God who
is without spot. And I'm going to tell them all
about him. But you know what they're going to do? They're
going to take my word, look at verse 13, but the word of the
Lord was unto them nothing more than precept upon precept, precept
upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little,
there a little, that they may go and fall backwards and be
broken and snared and taken. So they're going to take this
message of salvation that I'm going to give them in my word
and they're going to dissect it. and pull it out of context
and put their hope in a lie. And they're going to be convinced
from the word of God. Look what he says in verse 14.
Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule
this people which is in Jerusalem, because you have said, we have
made a covenant. Now there's the first, there's
the problem, isn't it? We have made a covenant. We made
a promise. and God's obligated to reward
us for the promise that we made. The only covenant that's going
to save a sinner's soul is a covenant that God made with God, not a
covenant that man makes with God. But religion is all about
man making a promise, isn't it? So this is what David's talking
about in Psalm 73. There's no bands in their death. They've made a covenant with
death. They, with hell they're in agreement. They believe, look
what he goes on to say. And with hell we are in agreement
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not
come upon us for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehoods
have we hid ourselves. Where did they get those lies
from? They twisted the scriptures and they made a lie out of truth.
And so the religious, the irreligious, they just go on without any bans
in death, without any fear of death. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he that
believeth shall not make haste. He's not going to run from Him.
He's going to This is Christ, He's that cornerstone and He's
laid in Zion in the city of God where the body of Christ comes
together, where Christ is being preached and my people will rest
their hope in Him. Judgment also will I lay to the
line and righteousness to the plummet and hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies and the waters shall overflow the hiding
place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled." God says, you've made peace with
death. You think you're in agreement
with hell. You think that you have nothing to be concerned
about when you die. This is my assessment of what
you've concluded. Now, turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. This Psalm
49 is so, the Lord is saying, I'm going to speak clearly and
the evidence is going to be overwhelming, but the unbeliever, the reprobate
is not going to hear it. To them, it's going to be a parable.
To them, it's going to be a mystery. and they're going to twist and
rest the scriptures to their own destruction. Hebrews chapter 2 and again verse
13, and again I will put my trust in him and again behold I and
the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. You see, it's the child of God
that's been delivered from the bondage of death. that fears
death. We understand the consequences
of death. We understand what's coming.
We understand that the unbeliever, they've made a covenant with
it. They're not concerned about it. We live our lives concerned
with the answer to question five, to verse five in Psalm 49. Wherefore should I fear in the
days of evil? What, in other words, the translation
there is what am I going to do with my fear in the days of evil
seeing that my sins are ever before me? They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude
of their riches, None of them can by any means redeem his brother
nor give to God a ransom for him. Now, yeah, the natural man
trusts in his material wealth and he lives his whole life holding
on to the things of this world. But the unbeliever also trusts
in the wealth of their righteousness, don't they? The reference here goes back
to Leviticus chapter 24 where God gives in the law if a Jew,
a Hebrew, got in a financial straight and had to sell off
his property in order to get out of debt, his next of kin
or his brother could redeem that property back into the family.
And the person that it was sold to was obligated to sell it back
into the family to keep the property in the family. So that was the
Levitical law. And so now the Lord is saying,
no amount of money that you have is going to be sufficient to
redeem your brother's soul. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, verse 6, none
of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a
ransom for him. Now skip verse 8 for just a moment
and go to verse 9. that he should still live forever
and not see corruption. How are you going to redeem your
brother's soul? How are you going to pay the
ransom price to redeem your brother's soul? Verse 8, for the redemption of
their soul is priceless. It's pride, that's what the word
precious is. The redemption of a man's soul has a price on it
that no man can come up with. The redemption of a man's soul
is the price of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's
going to come up with that? Now look at the rest of verse
8. And it ceaseth forever. In other words, it's already
been bought. It's already been redeemed. When
the Lord Jesus Christ entered into that covenant of grace with
the Father in eternity past before Adam ever sinned, the redemption
was paid. He's the lamb that was slain
before the foundation of the world. And the Lord's saying
the redemption price for the soul of a sinner is without value. It's priceless and you can't
come up with it. And it's already been done. It's
already ceased. It's been finished. And when
the Lord Jesus Christ came and shed his blood on Calvary's cross
and bowed his mighty head and said, it is finished. He accomplished
that which he had promised to do in the covenant of grace.
And so the Lord says, what are you going to, what are you going
to pay for the ransom of your brother? What are you going to
pay for the ransom of your own soul? Come back with me to verse six.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude
of their riches. What are they gonna do? What
are they gonna do? You know, and I don't say this
to be cute or clever, but the truth is we come into this world,
we come into this world wearing diapers, riding in a wheelchair,
bald head, no teeth, having to have somebody feed us, and having
to have somebody clean us up, and most of us are going to go
out the same way. It is certain that you brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain that you'll take
nothing out of it. That's, you know, that's so contrary to the
world's philosophy, isn't it? all their hope is in their, not
just the material wealth, but in the riches of their righteousness. None of them, none of them can
by any means redeem his brother. Now what is the significance
of redeeming your brother? I can remember when my righteousness was founded in my ability to
win somebody to Christ. If I could, I mean that was the
hope of my salvation. And I traversed land and sea. to make one disciple and turn
him in to twice the devil that I was myself. Turn to me to Galatians
chapter six. Galatians chapter six. Look at verse 12, as many as
desire to make a fair show in the flesh, that's all it is,
a fair show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised
only less they should suffer persecution for the cross. For
neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but
they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Men, well, I've quoted this passage
in Acts chapter 20, Sunday morning, when Paul met with the Ephesian
elders in Acts chapter 20, he said that perverse men are gonna
come from your own ranks and they're going to draw away to
themselves disciples. They're going to, of their own selves, they will
speak perverse things and draw away disciples after them. Men love making disciples after
themselves because it gives them some assurance of their own salvation.
If I can get you to believe what I believe, then that just legitimizes
what I think I believe is true. And that's what the Lord... Go
back with me to our text. Verse 7, none of them can by
any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for
him. You can't redeem yourself and you can't redeem your brother.
And don't take any comfort in thinking that because I persuaded
somebody else that that means that God's blessings are on me.
For the redemption of their soul is priceless and it's already
finished. It ceases forever. It's already
done. So how am I going to escape fear
and death? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ came
to destroy the works of the devil to deliver them who were in bondage
of fear of death all their lives. So it's the realization of death
and the realization that I've got to face God and I've got
a sin problem that causes me to see my need for Christ. Verse 10, for he seeth that the
wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish
and leave their wealth to others. Everybody sees that everybody
is dying. The unbeliever realizes that, I love that, Genesis chapter
5, turn with me to that passage just a moment. I can't imagine what it'd be
like to live 930 years, verse 5, but I want you to notice the
last three words in verse 5, and he died. Now look at verse
8, and all the days of Seth were 920 years, or 12 years, and he
died. Look at verse 11, and all the
days of Enosh were 905 years, and He died. Look at verse 14. In all the days of Caiman were
910 years and he died. Look at the end of verse 17.
And he died. In verse 20. And he died. Everybody knows they're going
to die. And that's what the Lord is saying, but they live in denial
of it. They think, well, it's going to be okay. It's going
to be okay. And when I say the believers
are the only ones that fear death, what I mean by that is we're
the only ones that understand the consequences of death. We're
the only ones that understand that we can't face death without
Christ. We've got to have... The answer
to the question is, how can I escape fear and death seeing that my
sin is ever before me? That's what verse five says.
And the world says, I don't have a problem with sin. I'm good to go. I've made a covenant
with death. There's no bans in my death.
And the believer like David is always, always struggling every
day with this reality of death and salvation and forgiveness. Verse 10, for he, go back with
me to Psalm 49, for he, the unbeliever, sees that the wise men die, and
likewise the foolish and the brutish people perish, and they
leave their wealth to others. Everybody dies. And now God's going to tell us
what their inward thought is, that here's what they're thinking.
Here's what they're thinking. Their inward thought is that
their houses shall continue forever and their dwelling places to
all generations and they call their lands after their own names.
Well, I've left a mark on the world. That's their hope. I've got children and I've got
lands and I've got things named after me and I've got accomplishments. That's my hope in death. And
when I stand before God, that's their inward thought. The hope
of their salvation is the accomplishments that they've made in this life
and the investments that they've made in this life. And they hope
to be able to present that to God as their righteousness. Nevertheless, verse 12, man being
in honor abideth not, He is like the beasts that perish. The most
honorable man that's ever lived is going to die just like a dog
dies. And they live in denial of it.
See, the Lord said, listen to me, all you rich and poor, high
and low, I'm going to speak to you very clearly about the reality
of death and how it is that you can escape fear in death, but
to you it's going to be a parable. To you, you're not going to understand
it. Only my children are going to understand it because they're
concerned with death. They're concerned with being
able to stand in the presence of God after they die. They're
constantly questioning themselves. They stand in doubt of themselves
all the time. They're a contradiction to themselves. They wonder whether or not they've
deceived themselves. You see, this is the struggle
that the child of God has that the unbeliever doesn't know anything
about. He's just, well, I've checked that box. I'm good to
go. Verse 13, this their way is their
folly, yet their posterity approved
their sayings. This is their foolishness, yet
their posterity says foolish things like, dad's looking down at me, He's
proud of me. Look what he did. Look what she
did. We're going to all be together.
Their posterity approves of the things that they said before
they died. And they affirm them in that.
I cannot tell you how many times I've been to the bedside of unbelievers. Their children come and they
and their spouses come and they tell them how good they are and
how God's waiting on them and how wonderful their life has
been. Their posterity approves their false hopes and everybody
just reaffirms everybody else's false hope. Verse 14, like sheep They are
laid in the grave. Death shall feed on them, and
the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." In
the morning. That's what I'm concerned about.
I'm concerned about the rising of the sun after the setting
of the sun. Because when this sun sets, I
want to make sure there's a sunrise on the other side of this sunset. And their beauty, that word beauty
is strength. their strength, their determination,
their accomplishments, their wealth, everything that they
have shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God, oh, here's our hope, brethren,
but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave for he
shall receive me. How is he going to receive me?
How am I going to escape the fear of death with my sin right
at my heels all about me all the time? Oh, I have a Savior. I have one
who by the sacrifice of Himself has put away all the sins of
all of God's people. He has successfully saved His
elect. My hope is in Him. My hope is
in Him. Every, every day I wonder, am
I one of God's elect? But here's the truth. Someone
asked me today, well, what, what do you say to someone who says,
well, they don't know if they're one of God's elect. And I said
to them, I said, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you believe
about yourself. It doesn't matter what you think
about yourself. The only thing that matters is
what do you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ? That's the
only thing that matters. What do you believe about Him?
Is He the Son of God? Was He successful in what He
came to do? Is all your hope placed on Him? If he doesn't
save you, you won't be saved. If Christ is not enough to God
for you, then you have nothing else to put your hope in. No
one else. No amount of riches, no amount
of accomplishments, no amount of wealth. Verse 16, be not thou afraid. when one is made rich, when the
glory of his house increased. You know, I thought a lot about
this. I think I figured a little bit about people and about myself. And, you know, riches aren't
really for the purpose of giving an individual comfort or pleasure. Wealth primarily is for the purpose
of giving people an advantage over other men. That's what it's
all about. Men boast in their wealth because
men love the praise of men more than the praise of God. And wealth
is all about getting the upper hand over other men and getting
a sense of, you know, I've got an advantage and I'm better than
you are. And it's a matter of intimidation,
isn't it? And the Lord is saying, don't
be intimidated by someone that's wealthy. Don't be intimidated
by someone who's got great accomplishments. They're going to die. They're
going to die just like you're going to die. They're going to
have to stand before God. For when he dieth, when that
rich man dieth that wants to intimidate you, he shall carry nothing away. You know, let them put whatever
they want in a man's coffin to take with him. It's going to
be right there in that coffin. You dig it up. However long later
you want to dig it up, it'll be right there with him. His
glory shall not descend after him. His glory is only among
men, not with God. Believer, child of God, this
is what the Lord is saying to us. Don't be intimidated by worldly
men who boast in their wealth and in their accomplishments
and in their position because they're going to die. Though while He lived, He blessed
His soul, and men will praise Thee when Thou doest well to
Thyself. See, that's what it's all about.
It's all about getting the praise and the approval of other men,
isn't it? That's what boasting and riches is all about. It's
not so much of, you know, I have to have these things so that
I can have a comfortable life. We're as comfortable as anybody
that's ever lived. You know, you can't, you can't,
a billionaire can't get his house any more comfortable than my
house is. You get it below 72 degrees, it's too cold. He can't
drive his car any faster than I can drive my car. He can't
enjoy a meal any more than I can enjoy my meal. He can't sleep
any better than I can sleep. Matter of fact, he doesn't sleep
as well. He doesn't enjoy what he's got. Though while he lives he blesses
his own soul and men will praise him and that's why he's doing
it when he does well to himself. He shall go to the generation
of his fathers and they shall never see light. They shall never
see light. Man that is in honor and understandeth
not is like the beast that perisheth. Now how'd this Psalm begin? My mouth shall speak wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding." How am I going to face death
and escape the fear of God's wrath when my sin is ever before
me? That's every believer's struggle
every day. That's what David was talking
about in Psalm 73. The unbeliever doesn't wrestle with this problem.
The child of God is the only one that wrestles with this sin
problem. The unbelievers made a covenant with death. They're
okay. Everything's fine. And the Lord's
saying to us, understand my words. They're not fine. They're not
fine. But you have hope. For I have
come in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil and deliver
those deliver those who were in bondage of the fear of death
all their lives. All their lives. Our merciful Heavenly Father.
Oh, how we do hope that your spirit now would speak. Comfort
and hope to the hearts of your people. We ask it in Christ name. Amen. Number 75, let's stand together.
? 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. 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, O
abide with me. Hold thou thy word 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.