A Child of the Poor

I shared this song (What Child is This / Child of the Poor) three or four years ago - it was the only time I've ever heard it. It's still so lovely it makes my throat ache.

My heart is awash in worship every time I realize that Jesus came to us, poor.

He came to share our sorrows, to know our hunger.

And yes, he was born to a barely-married couple from a shabby town, he was that kind of poor but I'm thinking about the kind of poverty that grinds heavy in the heart and leaves you feeling like there's no hope left, no one who truly gets you, no one who can lift that weight that sits on your chest when the silence descends.

He came to know us. Bear our burdens. Live our lives from the inside out. Feel our deep-soul hunger and walk around with a hidden heart that longs to be known.

I know, says this child, Me too.

In this song, the artists blend the two songs together but when they came to the chorus, they both slipped into the chorus of A Child of the Poor, instead of What Child is this. And I felt my heart longing for the sweet "This, this is Christ the King" - I wanted them to get to the answer, to the glory. I didn't want them to stay in the valley, the questions.

But the deep, sweet truth is this:
He came to us in our poverty.
Of course he dwells in glory.
Of course he is rich and radiant.
But he set down that splendour to come to us
Poor.

Whether your heart feels rich and splendid, or aching and barren -
Christmas is for you.
He came for you.
Christ the King, the child of the poor.

Merry Christmas, friends. xo.

Who is this who lives with the lowly
(This, this is Christ the King,)
Sharing their sorrows, knowing their hunger?
(Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;)
This is Christ, revealed to the world
(Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,)
In the eyes of a child, a child of the poor
(The Babe, the Son of Mary.)