on the 9th day of Christmas - We Three Kings

(oops, I have missed a lot of days of Christmas on this blog - mostly due to dear friends being here to stay with me!)

This morning at church we sang "We Three Kings." It was written by John Hopkins Jr, who was at the time an ordained deacon in the Episcopal church and later became a priest. He wrote this song in 1857 for a Christmas pageant at General Seminary in New York City.

Verse 1:

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Chorus:

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

I have long thought that I knew this song pretty well - the first verse is well known, but I also was aware that each wise man gets his own verse to sing about the gift that he brought to Jesus. First gold as a symbol of his kingship:

Verse 2:

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign
O Star of wonder...

Then frankincense as a symbol of Christ's deity, because it was an incense used for prayer:

Verse 3:

Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

Finally, myrrh, which was used to embalm dead bodies, to foreshadow his sacrificial death:

Verse 4:

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume

Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Those four participles in the 3rd line following one after another so gruesomely and beautifully sum up Christ's passion.

Though I thought I knew this song pretty well, I have never before paid attention to the final verse until this morning:

Verse 5:

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Heaven sings Alleluia
Alleluia, the earth replies

It moves from Christ's death in verse 4 to his resurrection - "now behold him arise" - and then recaps his 3 identities revealed by the 3 gifts - gold for a King, incense for a God, and myrrh for a sacrifice. Heaven and earth, joined by his birth, death, and resurrection, respond in praise - "Alleluia."

This song just gets more beautiful as it unfolds. Too bad so many only have ever heard the first verse and chorus!

May Christ, who by his Incarnation

gathered into one

things earthly and heavenly,

fill you with joy and peace.