Witness, ye men and angels now

Witness, ye men and angels now. Benjamin Beddome* (1717-1795).   This was published in Beddome’s Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, and Family Devotion (1817, 1818), published after the author’s death under the editorship of Robert Hall. It was entitled ‘Joining the Church’. It was the second of two hymns with that title; it was followed by ‘Admission of Members’, ‘Accessions to the Church’ and ‘Encrease of the Church’. It had four stanzas:  Witness, ye men and angels now,   Before the Lord we speak; To him we make our solemn vow,   A vow we dare not break –  That long as life itself will last,   Ourselves to Christ we yield; Nor from his cause will we depart,   Or ever quit the field.  We...