Once in Royal David's City

Verse 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, loving
mother mild,
Jesus Christ,
her little child.

Verse 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,
the scorned, the lowly
lived on earth
our Savior holy.

Verse 3

Jesus 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.

Verse 4

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.