For children, Christmas is almost magical. We have such pleasant memories of stringing the lights on the tree and hanging all the ornaments. We used our imagination when wrapping the presents to make them as impressive as we could with different designs on the paper and selecting the right bows. As we went to the stores we were delighted by all the colorful decorations and listened to the seasonal music. We joined friends to sit on the curb and watch the Christmas parade working its way through the town. We couldn’t wait until Grandma and Grandpa arrived from out of town. And who can forget how excited we were on Christmas morning as we came out of our rooms and rushed into the living room to see all the presents under the tree.
But hopefully, our happiest memories were about the real reason for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus. What part did you play in the church Christmas pageant; were you a shepherd … or an angel … or a sheep? Did you join others for the hanging of the greens to decorate the sanctuary? How about going out on a Sunday evening, perhaps on a hay wagon, to sing carols outside the homes of elderly home-bound members? And wasn’t the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service unforgettable, with the prophecy and nativity scriptures, the choir anthems and congregational carols, and the pastor’s description of Jesus as the light of the world, while watching the golden glow of the candlelight spread through the room.
Too often, we think of songs for children as being simplistic little expressions of praise that didn’t convey much in the way of substantial content or doctrinal truth. But we teach children to memorize scriptures before they can fully understand the words, trusting that as understanding grows it will inform the words of scripture that have been stored in the heart. The same is true when it comes to helping children memorize catechism questions and answers. As they grow, those expressions of truth will “blossom” in the minds. They are capable of learning far more than we often think.
The same is also true when it comes to singing. Yes, we all learned “Zacchaeus was a wee little man,” and “the wise man built his house upon the rock.” But hopefully we also learned “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” And so we are blessed to have, in our heritage of Christian hymnody, a healthy collection of hymns written specifically for children, hymns that teach them great truths about the faith to get them settled into the mind.
One of the best writers of solid hymns for children was Cecil Francis Alexander (1818-1895). She was the author of more than 400 hymns, most of them for children. These included hymns based on the phrases of the Apostles’ Creed. Among them is the hymn “There Was a Green Hill Far Away.” While she used expressions appropriate to the vocabulary and learning of a child’s mind, she nevertheless introduced little ones to the historical acts and doctrinal truths of the faith. Her poetic abilities were evident at an early age. By the time she was 22, several of her hymns had been included in the hymnal of the Church of Ireland.
For the gospel nativity story, Mrs. Alexander has given us the Christmas song, “Once in Royal David’s City,” based on the phrase from the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.” As we will see in the examination of the six stanzas, she not only tells the story from the Gospels, but also explains the significance, even for the young.
Born in Dublin, she married the Anglican clergyman William Alexander in 1850. He later became bishop of Derry and then archbishop. That was two years after the publication of “Once in Royal David’s City” in 1848 in a hymnbook named “Hymns for Little Children.” It was set to music in 1849, by the composer Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876), who read the poem and liked it. He was an English organist who composed over 1000 hymn tunes. His most famous is IRBY, the tune to which we sing Alexander’s carol. Gauntlett was also, in turn, a lawyer, author, organ designer and organ recitalist.
One of the Christmas traditions celebrated by many people in the English-speaking world is to tune in on Christmas Eve, either on radio or television, to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, originating from the elegaant King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. This tradition began in 1918, was first broadcast in 1928, and is now heard by millions around the world. In 1919, Arthur Henry Mann, organist at King’s College (1876-1929), introduced an arrangement of “Once in Royal David’s City” as the processional hymn for the service. In his version, the first stanza is sung unaccompanied by a boy chorister. The choir and then the congregation join in with the organ on succeeding stanzas. This has been the tradition ever since. It is a great honor to be the boy chosen to sing the opening solo, a voice heard literally around the world.
Like many traditional Christmas carols, ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ takes the nativity (the “lowly cattle-shed” where the infant Jesus was born) as its subject. “Royal David’s City” is, of course, Bethlehem, where according to the New Testament Jesus was born. Like other celebrated Christmas carols from the Victorian era, notably Christina Rossetti’s “In the Bleak Midwinter,” Mrs. Alexander’s carol focuses on the humble and “lowly” origins of Jesus Christ: born in a “cattle shed” or stable, but destined to become the Savior of all mankind. Mrs. Alexander draws a link between Jesus’ human incarnation and humans everywhere: “He was little, weak and helpless, / Tears and smiles like us He knew.” The Jesus of “Once in Royal David’s City” is someone to identify with because He is like us, and He understands human suffering and human struggles.
Since Christmas holds such a special fascination for children, perhaps that’s one more reason to recall Jesus’ telling us that we need to become like little children as we follow Him. As we sing this carol, let’s put ourselves back in the mindset of our childhood and appreciate how splendidly Mrs. Alexander has written this carol.
In stanza 1, we travel back to Bethlehem, the city of David’s ancestors, to stand in awe at the sight of this little babe. In that cattle shed was a manger with Mary at His side. How beautiful is that simple expression of Mary as His “mother mild.” The carol makes no mention of the shepherds, but we know from Luke’s account that they had been invited by the angelic host.
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.
In stanza 2, we begin to consider what all this means. The babe in the manger is actually “God and Lord of all” who “came down to earth from heaven.” And so as children we were introduced to the realization of the marvel of the incarnation and the deity of the Christ child. Mrs. Alexander’s literary skill shines through in the contrast she highlights between Jesus’ glory in heaven and humility in a stable and cradle. Not only that, she also connects Him to ourselves, since He who is holy became “poor and mean and lowly” like us here on earth.
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.
In stanza 3, we hear Mrs. Alexander in the role of a Sunday School teacher, telling the children in her class that they should seek to be like Jesus, as He was “kind, obedient, good,” especially toward His mother. We want our children to know that while this is not how we earn heaven, it is still the pattern of life we should imitate in our gratitude to God for the grace that has saved us. After all, the fifth commandment does teach us that we should honor our father and mother, and Paul reminds the Ephesians that this is the first commandment with a promise. The carol challenges our children to reflect on what an amazing model Jesus was as a perfect child!
And through all His wondrous childhood He would honor and obey,
love and watch the gentle mother in whose tender arms He lay:
Christian children all should be kind, obedient, good as He.15)
In stanza 4, the words carry that theme even further to teach our children that as a true human being, the divine Christ child experienced the full range of human emotions, yet without sin. He “was little, weak, and helpless,” and even knew “tears and smiles like us.” We remember Luke 2:52 teaching us that Jesus “grew and increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” How wonderful to have a Savior who has been tempted in every way are (Hebrews 4:15, who can sympathize with us, who “feels for all our sadness” and “shares in all our gladness.”
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 feels for all our sadness, and He shares in all our gladness.
In stanza 5, our children learn that the same Jesus who was laid in a manger has now gone before us, leading us “on to the place where He is gone.” To be a Christian is not only to believe in Jesus, but to follow Him into the courts of heaven, where He has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14). It’s in this stanza that we sing of Jesus’ “redeeming love,” that these privileges are ours only because of what He has done for us at the cross to purchase a place for us by paying for our sins. Wen Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me,” it certainly includes this promise that He will receive all His justified, adopted children into His presence “in heaven above.”
And our eyes at last shall see Him, through His own redeeming love,
for that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above;
and He leads his children on to the place where He is gone.
In stanza 6, we teach our children to look forward to that day when we shall see Him, no longer “in that poor lowly stable with the oxen standing by,” but “inn heaven, set at God’s right hand on high.” What a day that will be when all “His children gather round bright like stars with glory crowned.” This should be theme them of our advent carols, not merely looking back at His first coming, but looking ahead to His second coming when we will see Him in all His unveiled glory.
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;
there His children gather round bright like stars, with glory crowned.
Here is a recording of this carol as sung in the traditional Festival of Lessons and Carols, first unaccompanied by a young boy chorister and then choir and congregation on Christmas Eve in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. Notice the gorgeous stained glass windows, and the incredible, delicate stone fan vaulting in the ceiling. And be sure also to notice the classic choir descant on the final stanza, written by the late Sir David Willcocks.