This hymn is based on Ps45:8 “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.”
It was written by Henry Barraclough when he was 24 years old. Henry was a pianist whose talents were recognized by the evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman in the summer of 1915. One evening, during an evening service, Chapman spoke on Ps45. After the service, while taking a drive through the mountains, Barraclough scribbled down the words of Ivory Palaces and this hymn was performed the next day by Mrs. Alexander and Albert Brown.
It is a fitting hymn for Christmas as it reminds us how the Lord Jesus left His glory in heaven to be incarnated as a human being in this world full of woe to save us from our sins.
Lyrics and Music: Henry Barraclough
My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
And myrrh their texture fills;
Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine
With joy my being thrills.
Refrain:
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.
His life had also its sorrows sore,
For aloes had a part;
And when I think of the cross He bore,
My eyes with teardrops start.
His garments too were in cassia dipped,
With healing in a touch;
Each time my feet in some sin have slipped,
He took me from its clutch.
In garments glorious He will come,
To open wide the door;
And I shall enter my heav’nly home,
To dwell forevermore.
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