Edward Osler wrote the hymn "Abba Father, while we sing" to focus on the theme of divine providence and the spiritual security of believers. The piece was expressly written for and first published in the Reverend William John Hall’s Mitre Hymn Book (1836), where it appeared as entry Number 187 under the formal title "The Blessedness of God's Children." The text was structured in 3 stanzas, with each stanza containing 6 lines.
Osler later reprinted the lyric in his own monthly periodical, Church & King, in June 1837. In that publication, the hymn was appended to a devotional article specifically designated for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity.
The hymn gained a secure footing in several mid-nineteenth-century church collections. Notable entries include Dr. Peter Maurice’s Choral Hymn Book (1861), where it was listed as Number 403, and Benjamin Hall Kennedy’s Hymnologia Christiana (1863), appearing as Number 1462. Although widely circulated across these various hymnals, editors routinely introduced slight textual alterations to Osler's original verses.
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