This hymn weaves together contributions from three major Reformation figures. Its first stanza may trace to a 1551 Latin verse by Philipp Melanchthon: “Now comes the evening; stay with us, O Christ; do not allow Your light to be extinguished.” Nicolaus Selnecker expanded the text to seven stanzas in 1572 and nine in 1611 to thank God for preserving His Church and its preaching. The second stanza appeared in 1602 in a booklet of prayers written for the schoolchildren of Freiberg to sing against a threatened Ottoman invasion. Our English text combines Catherine Winkworth’s beloved opening lines with F. Samuel Janzow’s 1982 translation, and Lutheran Service Book editors sharpened the fourth stanza from “bright lance” to “bright sword of Your mighty Word.” Theologically, the hymn is anchored in the Emmaus road: “Stay with us, for it is toward evening” (Luke 24:29)—applying that plea to the twilight of the age, and answering it in the final stanza: Christ abides through “Your Word alone our heart’s defense.”
Sung at Our Saviour
2026