Once in royal Davids 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 Saviour holy.
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.
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.
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.