THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE
Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott wrote this Christmas hymn in 1864 to teach children about Jesus’ birth. It speaks to me and I hope it will speak to you as well.
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal decree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word,
Thou should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing,
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying “Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee.”
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.
Music is one way to keep Christ in your heart at Christmas. Memorizing Scripture is another. How do you keep Christ in your heart during this busy season?
I love to pay attention to the lyrics, they are prayers in song form, and they minister to me. I also try to keep Christ in my heart by trying to look for people that maybe others overlook to do something for or give a small gift to, like the elderly lady at church, or the janitor at work, or some lonely child at school. I hope that it brings some kind of hope into their hearts.
What a wonderful hymn!… Last month I downloaded a free app onto my cell phone which allows me to record Scripture. I have read and recorded about 15 books so far on the app, some which were part of memory work and some not. For example, I have not memorized Revelation, but my voice recording of it provides a whole new way to study and learn Scripture. I noticed things while listening that I had overlooked while reading. Also, listening to Scripture makes the Bible available during times of illness or stress. If I have back pain, for example, my Bible feels like it weighs and is difficult to handle, so now I can listen during the rough times.
That sounds like a great idea. You can listen to Scripture in your own voice. I will pass it on.
Janet I haven’t heard that hymn for at least 25 years, we use to sing it all the time in the Baptist church we went to when I was a kid. This post made me think of another hymn and hymn writer. The hymn is Take my life and let it be, the author of this hymn is Frances Havergal. You might of heard of her but encase you haven’t. Frances Havergal was not only a hymn writer but also someone who memorized a lot of scripture, it is said she had the NT memorized as well as a lot of the OT, Psalms, Isaiah, and all of the minor prophets. Just thought this might be of interest to you