1 High let us swell our tuneful notes
And join th'angelic throng;
For angels no such love have known
T'awake a cheerful song;
For angels no such love have known
T'awake a cheerful song.
2 Good will to guilty men is shown,
And peace on earth is given;
For lo! the incarnate Saviour comes,
A messenger from heaven,
For lo! the incarnate Saviour comes,
A messenger from heaven.
3 Justice and grace, with sweet accord,
His rising beams adorn:
Let heaven and earth in concert join,
Now such a Child is born,
Let heaven and earth in concert join,
Now such a Child is born.
4 Glory to God, in highest strains,
In highest worlds be paid!
His glory by our lips proclaimed,
And by our lives displayed.
His glory by our lips proclaimed,
And by our lives displayed.
5 When shall we reach those blissful realms,
Where Christ exalted reigns,
And learn of yon celestial choir
Their own immortal strains?
And learn of yon celestial choir
Their own immortal strains?
Amen.
Source: Book of Worship with Hymns and Tunes #227
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 >| First Line: | High let us swell our tuneful notes |
| Author: | Philip Doddridge |
| Language: | English |
| Copyright: | Public Domain |
High let us swell our tuneful notes. P. Doddridge. [Christmas.] This hymn is undated in the D. MSS. It was first published in Job Orton's posthumous edition of Doddridge's Hymns, &c, 1755, No. 101, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and again in J. D. Humphreys's edition of the same, 1839, No. 224. It was included in the Supplement to Tate & Brady's New Version (q.v.), under the same circumstances as Doddridge's “My God, and is Thy table spread," and a few other hymns. It is in extensive use, the text adopted in most cases being that in the Supplement to Tate & Brady.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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