Ice or Ivory                           

The Bible says: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” Psalms 45:6-8 (KJV)

 On November 25, 1895, a cornerstone of ice was laid in Leadville, Colorado, the beginning of the largest ice palace ever built in America.

The town was in the doldrums; the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 had ended its glory days as a silver-mining center. In an effort to keep their city alive, the citizens staged a winter carnival. On New Year’s Day, 1896, the town turned out for the grand opening. The palace, costing more than $40,000 and measuring 450 feet long by 320 feet deep, covered more than three acres. The towers that flanked the entrance were 90 feet high. Inside was a 16,000-square-foot skating rink.

But there was no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. The thousands of visitors who came to see the spectacle spent very little money. The town that put its hope in an ice palace saw that hope melt away.

In the summer of 1915, Henry Barraclough was with the evangelistic team at the Presbyterian Montreat Conference Center in the hills near Asheville, North Carolina. During the conference, Chapman preached one night on Psalm 45:8. After the service, the team drove through the mountains, stopping at a country store. As they were stopped, Barraclough remained in the car contemplating the message, and the phrases of the hymn refrain took shape. He wrote them down. After returning to the hotel, he worked out the verses and rest of the hymn. Mrs. Alexander and singer Albert Brown sang the song as a duet for the next morning's service.

This morning as I took our pet outside I beheld all of the stars shining so brilliantly in the sky. I marveled that the Creator of all that beauty could be so loving to me who has failed Him so often. I then praised the Lord that He does love me, in spite of me, and has prepared for me and all who trust in Him by faith a part in the Kingdom His Son left to pay a price I could never pay. He exchanged His royal robes for swaddling clothes, His royal throne for a manger, His Ivory Palace for a dry and dusty country. What a mighty, loving, and gracious Redeemer!

         Daily Chronological Bible Reading: Ezekiel 38-39