Abide In Me, O Lord

Abide in me, O Lord, and I in Thee,

From this good hour, oh, leave me nevermore;

Then shall the discord cease, the wound be healed,

The lifelong bleeding of the soul be o'er.

Abide in me; o'ershadow by Thy love

Each half formed purpose and dark thought of sin;

Quench ere it rise each selfish, low desire,

And keep my soul as Thine, calm and divine.

As some rare perfume in a vase of clay,

Pervades it with a fragrance not its own,

So, when Thou dwellest in a mortal soul,

All Heaven's own sweetness seems around it thrown.

Abide in me; there have been moments blest

When I have heard Thy voice and felt Thy power;

Then evil lost its grasp; and passion, hushed,

Owned the divine enchantment of the hour.

These were but seasons beautiful and rare;

Abide in me, and they shall ever be;

Fulfill at once Thy precept and my prayer,

Come, and abide in me, and I in Thee.