The Song of Men, Responsive to the Song of Angels

Representative Text

1 While Angels thus, O Lord! rejoice,
Shall men no Anthem raise?
O may we lose these useless tongues,
When we forget to praise!

2 Then let us swell responsive notes,
And join the heav'nly throng;
For Angels no such love have known
As we, to wake their song!

3 Good-will to sinful dust is shewn,
And peace on earth is giv'n;
For lo! th' incarnate Saviour comes,
With news of joy from heav'n!

4 Mercy and truth, with sweet accord,
His rising beams adorn!
Let heav'n and earth in concert sing –
"The promis'd child is born!"

5 Glory to God, in highest strains,
By highest worlds is paid!
Be glory, then, by us proclaim'd,
And by our lives display'd;

6 Till we attain those blissful realms,
Where now our Saviour reigns;
To rival the celestial choirs
In their immortal strains!

Source: A Selection of Psalms with occasional hymns (Charleston hymnal) #H.II

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Author: Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	While angels thus, O Lord, rejoice
Title:	The Song of Men, Responsive to the Song of Angels
Author:	Philip Doddridge
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain