David Meece – One Small Child

Using piano as an escape from his abusive, alcoholic father, Christian composer and artist David Meece started touring in his mid-teens. His music career reached its height in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, with hits such as We Are the Reason, Seventy-Times-Seven, and of course his Christmas song One Small Child, which continues to find many replays on the radio in December. He was invited by Billy Graham to appear as part of his crusades. 

He was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and received a 2009 Visionary Award for “Inspirational Male Soloist”. In 2012, the Artists Music Guild awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.

There are 17 albums attached to his name, including Count the Cost (1983), Chronology (1986), and Learning to Trust (1989).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/David-meece-one-small-child-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

The Savior, Jesus, was visited by three kings, one of which controls soldiers in their army.  The audience is invited to feast upon the smiling, tinted eyes of this cradle-bound babe, as His mother praises God and witnesses these kings bowing before Christ.

I am continually mystified that we continue to propagate that three wise kings visited Jesus.  As I will discuss in section 2, this is not in the Bible.  They were an unnumbered band of Magi, not three wise kings.  Still, it does little to compromise Meece’s message.

It contains minimal repetition.

Score: 9/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Much of it contains reasonably speculative lyrics that are not contrary to Scripture; However, it cites references to the Magi as kings that Scripture does not support.

Since this song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

Line 1: Though Scripture does not tell us how many went to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, went there to register (Luke 2:1-5). It is also where Jesus was born (Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:6-7).

Line 2-4a: Refers to baby Jesus, who will become the savior of sins (Matthew 1:21).

Line 4b: A call to Casper the friendly ghost.

[Stanza 2]

Lines 1-3: References the Magi, who brings Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:1-12). Scripture does not tell us how many visited Jesus nor does it state that they are kings. It also does not support Meece’s claim of military force possession.

The number “three” is assumed given the number of gifts that they bring to Jesus.

Line 4a: Refers to baby Jesus, the Magi describing Him as King (Matthew 2:2).  He came to bring life (John 10:10).

Line 4b: Another Casper the friendly ghost call.

[Stanza 3]

Line 1: That is, a manger (Luke 2:7).

Line 2-5: Speculative, but not unbiblical.

Line 6: See commentary on Stanza 2, lines 1-3.  This line adds their worship of Jesus (Matthew 2:11).

Line 7 and 8: Speculative, but not unbiblical.

[Stanza 4]

Lines 1-4: Repeats lines 1-4 minus 4b.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Given the holiday by which this song is generally played (as with all other Christmas music), the summary given in section 1 should seem obvious to non-believers, with all its references to a small child, the visiting kings, and bowing shepherds.  Unless they do their research, they probably won’t know the errors I pointed out in section 2; However, it will have little impact on their overall interpretation.

Score: 9/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It celebrates the birth of Jesus and pays lip service to some of its surrounding events, glorifying Him.  However, the errors pointed out in earlier sections compromise it.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

David Meece’s One Small Child is a decent Christmas song, lifting up the God-man Jesus as a savior, who is worthy of worship and ruler of the world, glorifying God. It contains a few errors regarding the kingship and army of the Magi but does little to compromise their otherwise clear message to believers and unbelievers alike.

It might be more useful as an overlay for multimedia rather than a worship song.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Artist Info

Track: One Small Child (listen to the song) (buy the song)

Artist: David Meece

Album: Odyssey (buy the album)

Genre: Christmas, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 1971

Duration: 5:14

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