gifts of the magi

so last Christmastime, i heard the Downhere song, "How Many Kings," and this part stood out to me:

Gold for His honor and frankincense for His pleasure
And myrrh for the cross He'll suffer
Do you believe?
Is this who we've waited for?

my train of thought:

gold (ok, know what that is)---honor.  like a king.
frankincense (i guess that's like incense)---pleasure.  because it's fragrant. ok.
myrrh (???)---for the cross? what the heck is myrrh???

so i went to Wikipedia (my favorite online resource).  eventually i looked up the other two, just for fun.  because of what i found the first time.  because i love symbolism, and because it's so cool and prophetic.

gold---symbolism for divine principles, like the golden ratio or golden rule; for holiness (like the covering of the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant); for divine authority (medieval kings used to be inaugurated under a golden crown); for great value.  gold is the most noble of the noble metals, but it is not chemically inert.  it is unaffected by most corrosive substances, so it does not tarnish.  it is a pure element, known for its tendency to show scratches.  the atomic symbol for gold, Au, derives from the Latin word aurum, meaning "gold" or "shining dawn."

frankincense---resin used in incense and in perfumes.  it is tapped from scraggly, hardy trees by slashing the bark, a process called striping.  the hardened resins are called tears.  some even have a method of rooting themselves into rocks, so deeply that their roots keep them from being ripped out of the rock, even during a storm.  frankincense also has some healing properties.

myrrh---the resin of a small, thorny tree species.  used as perfume, incense, and medicine.  extracted by wounding the tree repeatedly.  the word myrrh derives from Arabic and Aramaic words meaning "bitter."  it was also used in holy anointing oil.

definitely gifts of high worth for a king.  but God, as usual, planned things down to the tiniest detail, even symbolically.  how cool is that?