Song of Angels

Representative Text

1. Angels in bright attire
Descend from heaven to earth,
And spread the joyful news
Of our Redeemer's birth:
Born in a house
Where oxen fed,
A manger was
His lowly bed.

2. Glory to God, they sing
In most exalted strains,
Peace and good will to men
So long as Jesus reigns:
And reign he shall
From shore to shore,
Till sun and moon
Shall shine no more.

3. We'll join the heavenly song,
And sound his name abroad;
Welcome, the wondrous Man,
The great incarnate God:
Hail, source divine
Of life and joy,
Thy praise snail still
Our lips employ.

4. For love so great as thine,
Ourselves to thee we give;
Tis all thou dost demand,
Nor less wilt thou receive:
Before thy feet,
We prostrate fall;
Accept, dear Lord,
Our little all.

Author: Benjamin Beddome

Benjamin Beddome was born at Henley-in Arden, Warwickshire, January 23, 1717. His father was a Baptist minister. He studied at various places, and began preaching in 1740. He was pastor of a Baptist society at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, until his death in 1795. In 1770, he received the degree of M.A. from the Baptist College in Providence, Rhode Island. He published several discourses and hymns. "His hymns, to the number of 830, were published in 1818, with a recommendation from Robert Hall." Montgomery speaks of him as a "writer worthy of honour both for the quantity and the quality of his hymns." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Angels in bright attire
Title: Song of Angels
Author: Benjamin Beddome (1818)
Meter: 6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4
Source: Appeared posthumously in Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (London: Burton and Briggs,1818)
Language: English
Publication Date: 1818
Copyright: This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.

Tune

DARWALL

Composed by John Darwall (b. Haughton, Staffordshire, England, 1731; d. Walsall, Staffordshire, England, 1789), DARWALL'S 148TH was first published as a setting for Psalm 148 in Aaron William's New Universal Psalmodist (1770) with only soprano and bass parts. The harmonization dates from the ninete…

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The Cyber Hymnal #16069
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The Cyber Hymnal #16069

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