ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
By Cecil F. Alexander
Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed.
Where a Mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed.
Mary was that Mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all.
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall.
With the poor and mean and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
And through all His wondrous childhood
He would honor and obey.
Love and watch the lowly maiden
In whose gentle arms He lay.
Christian children all must be –
Mild, obedient, good as He.
For He is our childhood’s pattern
Day by day like us He grew;
He was little, weak, and helpless;
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see Him
Through His own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heav’n above;
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high.
When like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.
When Advent arrives, this is one of the first carols that come to my mind. It is probably not as familiar as “O Come, All Ye Faithful” or “Joy to the World”, but it is one of my favorites. It is one of my favorites because it gives us a glimpse of Jesus as a child and as an example for children everywhere. One of my favorite children’s books when our boys were little was a book our oldest got from his Sunday school teacher. It was called, When Jesus was a Little Boy. The book certainly did not belittle the holy nature of Jesus but it did help us all realize that Jesus was truly human and did the things little boys like to do – play with toys, have pets, help their Dads, help their Moms, - but Jesus did it as a sinless child. He likely fell and scraped his knees and looked to Mom or Dad for comfort as well.
This song reminds me again of the fact that our Holy God sent Jesus to this world, to be born among the lowliest creatures on earth in a cattle barn, to live in a family as a child, to be obedient as no other child on earth could be, to grow up to serve and heal others, to take the cross literally upon His shoulders and then be nailed to it and die. The Bible tells us that Jesus took our sin upon Himself because He was the only One who could fulfill the requirement that a “Lamb without blemish or spot” be the payment for the sins of the world. Only Jesus could do that.
The final two verses of this song tell us what the future holds for those who trust in Jesus as Savior. We have a hope of eternity that is not obtained anywhere else – only through faith in Jesus. What an exciting time that will be. “And our eyes at last shall see Him through His own redeeming love. . . .And He leads His children on to the place where He is gone. Not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by, WE SHALL SEE HIM: BUT IN HEAVEN SET AT GOD’S RIGHT HAND ON HIGH. When like stars His children crowned all in white shall wait around.”
Won’t you spend some time during this special season of the year thinking about Jesus – why He came, what He did for you, spending time reading about Him in the Word, listening to the beautiful Christmas carols, and thinking about the true meaning of Christmas? Isn’t He the reason we celebrate?
