Hymn: “Once in Royal David’s City” by Cecil 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,
Where like stars His child­ren crowned
All in white shall wait around.

“Once in Royal David’s City” is Alistair Begg’s favorite Christmas carol. He explains why in his book Christmas Playlist.

The lyrics for this hymn are in the public domain and may be shared or reproduced without obtaining permission.