Ivory Palaces -- Henry Barraclough

Twenty-four year old Henry Barraclough’s path to a hymn he was writing was circuitous, by several thousand miles, in fact. He might never have imagined the words to “Ivory Palaces”, except that he had agreed to be the piano player for a touring preacher who was returning to his own country in the year before the words to the hymn occupied his mind. The words are even more winding, if one considers their origin, and that they travelled through the minds of at least two others before settling in Henry’s one evening, far from his native land of Britain. It was an ancient song that spurred Henry’s more recent thoughts, representing a gap of nearly three millennia. How resilient and significant is such a song, with this kind of track record?

    

Somebody in about 10^th Century B.C. Jerusalem first crafted the words, and they eventually made their way via a 20^th Century A.D. preacher to the imagination of Henry Barraclough. An ancient Psalmist (Psalm 45) from among a group called the Korahites most likely composed the words initially (Psam 45:8), as part of a liturgy for the Jewish temple during the time of King David. Heman was their leader, so perhaps he was the original composer and author – a professional musician. From one kind of artist to another centuries later, “Ivory Palaces” describes the Divine bridegroom’s home, a place He deliberately vacated for a comparatively lowly betrothal. Henry Barraclough was reminded of this fact one summer night in 1915 in a place called Montreat, in western North Carolina. His relationship with J. Wilbur Chapman, the preacher that spoke from Psalm 45 that evening, had begun a year earlier, in Barraclough’s homeland of Britain. There, Henry was coaxed to join Chapman’s evangelism team upon its return to America, making possible the event that conjured up the imagery in Henry’s mind. Henry has related that later, while in a car that was transporting a group to a hostel, he began to ponder the conference message he’d heard. Did his accompanying friend, Charlie Alexander, or perhaps one of the others in the car, discuss together what they’d heard, prompting Henry’s own psalm? He indicates that he crafted three of the four verses in pretty quick order on a small piece of paper in that car and later back at the conference site. His fourth verse of “Ivory Palaces” was requested by the preacher Chapman, following the next day’s premier of the song Henry wrote in just a few hours the previous day.   

How did Henry feel about being Christ’s bride, as he mulled over the message from Wilbur Chapman? One could not summarize his emotions in a word, or even many words. The Korathite, some 3,000 years earlier, wrote 17 verses (in our contemporary version of the bible) to describe how he regarded the king, and it was undoubtedly used repeatedly by subsequent generations. J. Wilbur Chapman must have had some stirring words too, or Henry may not have been inspired to craft something to mark the occasion. It seems the import of Christ’s journey to wed us isn’t just a momentary highlight. It’s in fact been ongoing for centuries, as one can fathom from Ivory Palace’s historical pedigree. And, to properly express a wedding day’s emotional pitch, words are fused with music. Magical – that’s how you might hear someone describe the event. It was surreal for Henry, as he recalls the trappings of Christ’s presence. Myrrh (v.1), aloes and a cross (v.2), cassia (v.3), many of which were associated with His death and burial. Wedding or Execution? Could it be for me and you, that death is where the wedding actually culminates? Think about it.   

       

Information on the song was obtained from “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 

See this site for biography of composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/a/r/r/barraclough_h.htm  

Also, see here for the song’s story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/v/o/ivorypal.htm

The NIV Study Bible and its editorial notes, New International Version, general editor Kenneth Barker, Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985, is the source for the information on the Psalm 45.