It must have been a sermon about an earthly king, compared to the heavenly one, that captured the attention of Harriet Eugenia Buell one Sunday morning in a small church in central New York state. Did she relate to the pastor the inspiration she received from him that prompted her to pen “A Child of the King” later that same day, probably in 1876 (finally leading to its publication in a magazine months later in early 1877)? Whether she realized it or not, she was following a pattern travelled by many other hymnwriters on either side of her era, as well as in her own time – a message preached for effect had indeed reached deep inside to the core of a hearer’s being. The musical result was in fact the fusion of several people’s exertions, including a Spirit that had helped translate something that Harriet recorded for us.
Harriet Buell had heard a thought-provoking message, and she mused about it as she walked home from the Methodist worship service that had just concluded in Manlius, New York (shown in the county of Onondaga, see the map). Harriet had occasionally written poetry (a handful of texts are attributed to her), so this 43-year old was not a novice at this art form. Perhaps she had even submitted other poems to the same magazine, The Northern Christian Advocate, where she sent this poem (apparently, originally titled The Child of a King, then later changed to A Child of the King) after completing it. She must have felt the pastor’s sermon message and what she had gleaned from it were especially noteworthy, an impression that was endorsed when it was published by the magazine, and then later set to music by John B. Sumner. Her experience demonstrates that Harriet’s wasn’t the only handiwork responsible for what she’d write. The words the pastor used were obviously well-chosen, while the writer of the biblical passages he must have used were no less essential. Once the pastor’s words were spoken, they moved with the help of the Holy Spirit to spur Harriet, as she listened and absorbed the ideas that touched her ears, and as she walked home that day and felt Him nudge the words of four verses to emerge from inside. What was it that Harriet centered upon? The Father and the Son (vv. 1-2) were uppermost in her mind, the two persons and the family that were hers through a divine and sovereign sacrifice. Harriet had also been reminded of the stark contrast between this King’s family and herself, that she was once an ‘outcast stranger’, a ‘sinner’, and ‘alien’ (v.3), but now was an ‘adopted…heir’(v.3). She must have valued this relationship above all else, not caring if the abode up there was a ‘tent or cottage’ (v.4)…a ‘palace’ was how she thought of her eventual dwelling place, as long as God was the builder (v.4). Utter trust, as a child in a loving, wealthy family might feel at Christmas – that might be how Harriet’s feelings could be summed up.
What would it be like to be part of a Creator-King’s family, to want for nothing because you have everything as a consequence of an unshakeable tie to the absolute sovereign? No one can take or threaten any of your inheritance with this King, unlike what might happen inside a kingdom on earth. Was Harriet reminded of some of earth’s kings, from biblical times through the 19th Century, and how untimely were the demise of many of them? What would it take to make certain your inheritance on earth? Some of them have been secured through force – through bloodshed, even. My Holy brother did the bloodshed part for me in the kingdom I inhabit, something I never need to repay with my own blood. It’s all about just staying close to Him. How’s that sound? You just need to ask to get into this kingdom; He’s holding the door open for you to enter. And, He’s already paid your entry fee. Come on in!
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; and Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990.
See this link for information about the author and the song’s four verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/h/i/l/d/childkin.htm
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