Some of you may be quite familiar with the Christmas hymn we are meditating on today, but frankly, this is a new one for me. In fact, I do not read music and I have never heard the song before, so I do not even know the tune. However, as I was flipping through my hymnal today, the words of this song, “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne,” blew me away. I stopped and wondered, “Why are we not singing this song?!?” You may have a similar reaction as you read the lyrics today.
This hymn was written by Emily Elliot sometime in the late 1800’s. Elliot’s father was a Pastor in England, and Emily wrote this song to teach the children of her church the great implications of the Christmas story. Each verse of the first four of this hymn are arranged as a contrast. Jesus came to this earth, but not all have received Him. This reminds me of John 1:10-13 which says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
The hymn concludes in the fifth verse without the same contrast. At His first coming, Jesus was rejected by most, but at His second coming, He will not reject or forget ANY of His own. What a treasured promise! What a great contrast between finite, sinful men, and our loving and perfect God!
As you reflect on the words of this hymn today, may we all echo the chorus together, “O come to My heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee!”
“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 degree.
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 that 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!”
Great thots but coached in Elizabethan English they will be hard-put to reach hearts of modern young listeners. Anyone know of a modern version? If not, I am to work up one. Many old songs song w modernized verse or music can have a greater impact than otherwise.