I have been reviewing some modern worship songs, but I’ve taken a break to explore some Advent and Christmas hymns. 😀. Today, I’ve chosen Once in Royal David’s City.
I watch Carols from King’s every Christmas Eve – or listen to it on BBC radio. This hymn has opened it since since 1919. The service was first broadcast in 1928.
I’d love to spend Christmas in Cambridge sometime. It’s all very English, but the hymn is Irish 😄. It was written by Cecil Frances Alexander, who was from Dublin. She was born in April 1818 at 25 Eccles Street. It started as a poem and was published in her hymnbook Hymns for Little Children.
It’s based on the following passage from Luke’s gospel:
Luke 2:4-7
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
In the Old Testament, David was probably the most memorable king. He certainly had his faults, and the Bible isn’t shy about reporting them. But he was also very devoted to God, as can be seen from his Psalms. And there was much focus on a future messiah/king who would be born in Bethlehem, the town of David.
Let’s examine the lyrics. It’s a children’s hymn, and it’s quite simple. It just tells the story in the first couple of verses. Then, verses 3 and 4 focus on the future. Some people from other religions might be confused about the references to God. In verse 2, Jesus is called God and in verse 4, he’s at God’s right hand. How do we explain this?
Well, the Bible teaches that there is one God and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are referred to as God. In the New Testament, the believers just seemed to accept it all without much controversy. But in the following centuries, there was much debate as people tried to figure out exactly how to explain it. In the end, the term “trinity” was used to describe three persons in the one being. It’s beyond our understanding and experience, but why shouldn’t it be? So much about the world is bewildering. As a young child, I could hardly believe it when someone told me that I was living on a giant sphere spinning at over 1,000 mph. And the more I learn, the more astonished I am. For example, who would have thought that we’re all made up empty space and elementary particles 😄?
Here’s an interesting article by my favourite theologian, Wayne Grudem, on the Trinity,
1 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.
2 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 meek, and lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.
3 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.
4 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.
So, Jesus is eternally the Son of God. As the Son of God, he wasn’t created. The term is more about his position and role. But he was born into this world as a human, a model human, an example for us all. And he remains a human forever, while still being in very nature God. And as a human, he takes a position at the right hand of God the Father, and he leads all those who believe in him to heaven. In the New Testament, although both the Father and Son are God, the term God is used more often of the Father, and the term “Lord” is used of the son. But in places, both terms are used for both. And they are sometimes used for the Holy Spirit.
Cecil Frances Alexander also wrote other famous hymns, including All Things Bright and Beautiful and There is a Green Hill Far Away:
And here are a few interesting versions of Once in Royal David’s City, the first being from Roger Moore (who played James Bond). But he speaks rather than sings 😄.
Hibernia Gospel 