Bly By My, Heer

The story of this hymn

Henry Francis Lyte wrote 'Abide with me' in 1847, in the last weeks of his life, as tuberculosis closed in — every line is a dying man asking God to stay as the light fails. The hymn crossed into Afrikaans in the twentieth century through the church hymnals and is sung to the same tune, William Monk's 'Eventide', that carries it in English. What made it a funeral hymn in one language survives whole in the other.

Where it sits in the service

As in English, it is most often the closing hymn — the congregation stands and sings the coffin out — and it also serves at the graveside, where 'Eventide' can be sung unaccompanied. Print the hymn number from your congregation's own book, and add the English title in brackets for visitors who know it as 'Abide with me'.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Hymn — Bly By My, Heer” with the leader or choir named beside it.

How it is actually sung

The Afrikaans form of “Abide With Me”, sung to the same tune and with the same slow, evening register. Afrikaans congregations know it thoroughly and will sing it without the words. It belongs near the end of the service, before the committal.

Printing the words

Afrikaans gesang settings are typically published in a specific hymnal — confirm the gesang number with the church and print that rather than the text, which is what Afrikaans congregations expect to see in an order of service.

This is practical guidance rather than legal advice. Reproduction rights vary by territory, by hymnal edition and by the licence your church holds — the church office is the right place to ask, and they answer this question often.