The Rev. A. Bingham tells us that a young soldier was mortally wounded in one of the great battles. When he realized that he was dying, he began to sing:
“Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide;
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.”
Far away from loved ones―far from home―wounded to the death, the soldier found in the love and presence of Jesus His Saviour and Friend, rest and peace. And his comrade in the Hospital remembered his dying song, and passed it on that it might become a message to many another when they came to die―
“In life―in death―O Lord, abide with me.”