January 5 

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne 

TEXT: Emily S. Elliott

b. July 22, 1836, Sussex, England

d. August 3, 1897, London, England

Emily Elliott was the daughter of a pastor, Edward Bishop Elliott of St. Mark’s Church in Brighton, England. Her aunt was Charlotte Elliott, who wrote the popular hymn, “Just as I Am.” Emily Elliott wrote numerous hymns for her father’s church, including a collection of seventy hymns and poems called Chimes of Consecration. A subsequent book, Chimes for Daily Service, contained seventy-one hymns. Elliott also published a large-print hymn book called Under the Pillow for use in nursing homes.

TUNE: Timothy R. Matthews

b. November 4, 1826, Colmworth, England

d. January 5, 1910, Lincolnshire, England

Timothy Matthews was also the child of an English pastor who, after studying at Cambridge, became the Canon of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Matthews composed “Morning and Evening Services” and chants and responses, and he earned a reputation for simple but effective hymn tunes, writing over a hundred. A man once requested six tunes from him for a children’s hymnal, and Matthews completed them within a day.

As you sing this hymn … you are engaged in a conversation with Jesus. You have read His story in Luke 2:7, which tells that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Why would God have permitted such an inhospitable, perhaps unsanitary, and uncommon place for His Son to be born? Could there be any greater contrast between the glories of heaven and a stable on earth? No room for the Messiah and Creator of the universe? We’ve heard this all our lives, but will it ever cease to amaze us?

What is the significance of this lowly birthplace? The nineteenth-century English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, offers the following reasons: 1) to clearly show His humiliation—“A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” began at birth. 2) “By being in a manger, he was declared to be the king of the poor.” No wonder the shepherds felt comfortable coming in to see Him. 3) “Being laid in a manger, he did … give an invitation to the most humble to come to him.” 4) This place was open and free to everyone—no standard of worth or rite of passage. There may not even have been a door.⁴⁹

Ironically, continues Spurgeon, there were other places, both then and now, that have no room for Christ. But He “stands at the door and knocks” (Rev. 3:20). So the question remains: Is there room in your heart for Him? This carol offers you the opportunity to repeatedly affirm, “Come to my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for Thee.” And His promise is, “if you open the door, I will come in” (v. 20).

But the final stanza changes the location. One day, Jesus will invite His own into His home for eternity. He will say, “Yes, there is room!” What else can we say but “my heart will rejoice when you call me home, Lord Jesus”? Can you sing this confidently? Trust His promises today.