once in royal david s city stood a lowly cattle shed where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed mary was that mother mild jesus christ her little child he came down to earth from heaven who is god and lord of all and his shelter was a stable and his cradle was a stall with the poor and mean and lowly lived on earth our saviour holy and our eyes at last shall see him through his own redeeming love for that child so dear and gentle is our lord in heaven above and he leads his children on to the place where he is gone not in that poor lowly stable with the oxen standing by we shall see him but in heaven set at god s right hand on high when like stars his children crowned all in white shall wait around