Once In Royal David's City (Stanza 4)

Like the third stanza, the fourth stanza of Once In Royal David's City is particularly written for children--and likewise just as relevant for adults.

Jesus knew what it was like to be a child: from a skinned knee to getting a wood sliver from Joseph's carpentry shop. As an adult, He took special care to bless children (Mark 10:13-16) and to heal them when they were sick. (Luke 8:54; Mark 9:27).

We may not be little children anymore but we all face our own weaknesses. It could be a health concern, increasing financial debt, fractured relationships... any number of insurmountable "concerns."

In such a situation, Paul was told by Jesus:
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  Paul's response to this was,
“So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, New Living Translation, 2015)
As another children's song puts it, "We are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me..."

When was Jesus most helpless? Certainly as a newborn baby. We don't have statistics of infant mortality at the time. But even after surviving infancy, King Herod attempted to kill Jesus as a toddler. (Matthew 2:13)

The other time when Jesus was most helpless was when He hung on a cross. He could have summoned armies of angels. (Matthew 26:53) But as in His coming to earth, it was voluntary helplessness so he could rescue us.

The priests of ancient Israel offered sacrifices on behalf of the people, interceding to God for them. Jesus is called the perfect "High Priest."

Hebrews 4:15–16 says, "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (NLT)

He died and came back to life so we can share in the joy of His resurrection.

Jesus* 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 feels for all our sadness,
And He shares in all our gladness.

* Original wording, "For He is..."
Photo: istockphoto

PS - "Day by day, like us He grew" See Hebrews 5:8 (NLT) "Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered."