— Psalm
24:7-9—The hymn of the Day is All
Glory, Laud and Honor– {LSB 442}. The Lord Almighty, the Lord mighty in battle,
has triumphed over all His enemies and comes now in victory to His own city.
This is what Jesus proclaimed on the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Tomorrow we worship our Savior as Lord, Christ, and King. Worship at its best
happens when Christ is the focal point of our praise.
“All Glory, Laud, and Honor” is perhaps the
quintessential Palm Sunday entrance hymn. With its Latin text written in the
9th century by Theodulph of Orleans (ca. 750-821), its English translation by
John Mason Neale (1818-1866) and its majestic 17th-century German tune by
Melchior Teschner (1584-1635), one would have to look far and wide for a hymn
more rooted in Western historical and cultural traditions.
An interesting note is that Theodulph inserts
children (Latin “puerile”) directly
into his Latin hymn. There is no biblical basis for this, either in the Latin
Vulgate or the King James Version. The accounts of Matthew and Luke include a
reference to children, but these have nothing to do with children singing
specifically during the triumphal entry. Matthew 21:16 notes, “Yea; have ye
never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected
praise?” This mention of children takes place several verses after the
narrative of the triumphal entry.
Recent developments in the Christian Year
relabeled this Sunday as Palm/Passion Sunday. In doing so, the exuberance of
the triumphal entrance soon gives way to the anticipation of the Passion of
Christ that is to follow—all within the same service.[1]
-Dr. John
Mason Hawn professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology, Sothern
Methodist University.
[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-all-glory-laud-and-honor
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