WA BA MI GBE

By Henry F. Lite



Wa ba mi gbe, ale fere le tan
Okunkun su, Oluwa ba mi gbe
Bi oluranlowo miran baye
Iranwo alaini, wa ba mi gbe.

Ojo aye mi n sare lo s'opin
Ayo aye n ku, ogo re n womi
Ayida at'ibaje ni mo n ri
'Wo ti ki yipada, wa ba mi gbe.

Mo n fe ri O ni wakati gbogbo
Ki lo le segun esu b'ore Re
Ta lo le samona mi bi Re?
N'nu banuje at'ayo, ba mi gbe.

Pelu 'bukun Re, eru ko ba mi
Ibi ko wuwo, ekun ko koro
Oro iku da? Isegun isa da?
N o segun sibe b'Iwo ba mi gbe.

Ki n f'oro Re ni wakati iku
Se'mole mi, si toka si orun
B'aye ti n koja, kile orun mo
Ni yiye, ni kiku, wa ba mi gbe.

Source: YBH 599

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.

Lyte was in­spired to write this hymn as he was dy­ing of tu­ber­cu­lo­sis; he fin­ished it the Sun­day he gave his fare­well ser­mon in the par­ish he served so ma­ny years. The next day, he left for Ita­ly to re­gain his health. He didn’t make it, though—he died in Nice, France, three weeks af­ter writ­ing these words. Here is an ex­cerpt from his fare­well ser­mon:
O breth­ren, I stand here among you to­day, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to im­press it upon you, and in­duce you to pre­pare for that sol­emn hour which must come to all, by a time­ly ac­quaint­ance with the death of Christ.
For over a cen­tu­ry, the bells of his church at All Saints in Low­er Brix­ham, De­von­shire, have rung out “Abide with Me” daily. The hymn was sung at the wed­ding of King George VI, at the wed­ding of his daugh­ter, the fu­ture Queen Eliz­a­beth II, and at the funeral of Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta in1997.

Comments

  1. Hi A.Y! went through your profile now and i realized we share same dream.. i have a blog site too having the same purpose as yours.. I would like us to work together. I currently anchor a hymn programme on adaba 88.9fm, akure. please contact me on +2347038875025 or cyndyfem@gmail.com.... waiting earnestly for your prompt. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. pls i really need your help, i need the lyrics and if posible audio file of this hymnal, BABA OLORISUN IBUKUN GBOGBO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have it on the hymn book I'm using, but I'll try.

      Delete
    2. Is it in baptist hymnal or cac

      Delete
    3. I got it from the Yoruba Baptist Hymnal. Thank you for asking, I just updated the source now.

      Delete
  3. Good job. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome. I'm glad I'm meeting needs. Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
  4. You sure are meeting needs and bringing back good and lovely memories. God bless you..

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm always blessed by the lyrics of this hymn. God bless you Sis. AY for by the publishing the hymn.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is great! i never knew i could find this . you jus solved my problem. God will surely solve your in jesus name. God bless u. kayode

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AMEN! That's a very timely prayer. Thank you.

      Delete
  7. Well done keep the good work going
    Love xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pls, i need Yoruba lyrics of "Only be remembered for what you have done".

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESU NI BALOGUN OKO

Olori Ijo T'orun

E BA WA YIN OLUWA, ALLELUYA!