Mighty God, while angels bless thee

Mighty God, while angels bless thee. Robert Robinson* (1735-1790). First published in Joseph Middleton’s Hymns (1793) in nine 4-line verses. According to Josiah Miller in Singers and Songs of the Church (1869), it was written in 1774 and marked in Robinson’s manuscript catalogue as a Christmas hymn. Joseph Belcher (1794-1859), a Baptist minister who emigrated to the USA, said that the hymn was written for Benjamin Williams, later a Baptist deacon at Reading, Berkshire, when Williams was a boy (see JJ, p.1579). At its first printing, the hymn had ‘Hallelujah, H. H. Amen.’ at the end of each verse. It is usually printed without the original verse 7, the verse that particularly justifies the...