A Child of the King

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  A Child of the King (.mp3 piano)

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1. My Father is rich in houses and land, He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands! Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold, His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

Refrain
I’m a child of the King, A child of the King, With Jesus my Savior, I’m a child of the King.

2. My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men, Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them; But now He is reigning for ever on high, And will give me a home in heav'n by and by. [Refrain]

3. I once was an outcast stranger on earth, A sinner by choice and an alien by birth; But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down, An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown. [Refrain]

4 A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there; Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing: All glory to God, I’m a child of the King. [Refrain]

Words by: Hattie E. Buell (1877)
Music by: Harriett Eugenia Peck Buell was born in 1834 Cazenovia, New York. She contributed numerous poems to the Northern Christian Advocate. She died February 6, 1910 in Washington, DC.
Video so you can sing along to A Child of the King

Background of the hymn A Child of the King

The hymn's creation is tied to a moment of profound spiritual insight during a Sunday morning worship service, likely in late 1876. While attending her local Methodist church in Manlius, New York, Buell heard a sermon contrasting the fleeting grandeur of earthly kings with the eternal riches of the heavenly King (God). The message—possibly exploring the idea of believers as "heirs of God" from Romans 8—struck her deeply, evoking a sense of personal adoption and divine inheritance. As she walked home through the crisp autumn air, the words began to form in her mind. That same day, the 42-year-old Buell penned the poem at her kitchen table, capturing the sermon's essence in vivid, joyful imagery.

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Some accounts vary slightly, suggesting the inspiration came from a Bible conference at Thousand Island Park, New York, where a speaker expounded on the same theme of spiritual heirship. Regardless, Buell's poem was a spontaneous outpouring of gratitude for her salvation, written not for fame but as a testimony of faith.

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She originally composed six stanzas, though most hymnals use only four (stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 6). Buell submitted the untitled poem to The Northern Christian Advocate, where it appeared on February 1, 1877, under the simple heading "The Child of a King." It quickly resonated with readers as a poetic declaration of Christian identity.