December 26, 2020 (Saturday)
One of my favorite gospel songs is “Ivory Palaces.” I sang it as a solo until Wanda and I married; then we started singing it together as a duet. It became our most requested song and we loved singing it. It is a beautiful song about Jesus’ coming from Heaven to the earth in order to provide salvation for all of us.
The song was written by Henry Barraclough in 1915. The first verse reflects Psalm 45:8, and a sermon on the text was the inspiration for the song. Psalm 45:8 reads: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” The first verse of Ivory palaces goes like this: “My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, and myrrh their texture fills, Its fragrance reaches this heart of mine, with joy my being fills.”
The chorus then enlarges upon the idea, and, perhaps inspired by John 1 and/or Philippians 2, or John 3:16 and a myriad of Scripture references, proclaims the gospel: “Out of the Ivory Palaces, into a world of woe–Only His great eternal love made my Savior go.”
On this day after Christmas, our hearts are full of love for our Savior, who left Heaven and all its glory to come to us and make eternal salvation possible by grace through faith.