Hosanna is one of my favourite worship words. It started out it's life meaning 'save us God'. But by the time we see it used in Matthew 21 it has come to mean 'praise you God'. Paul and I tried to get those two meanings into the chorus... 'you are the God who saves us, worthy of all our praises'. I like this word a lot because for me it's a tidy picture of my relationship with God. I almost always come to him saying 'save me God' and leave saying 'praise you God'. The coming of God and His kingdom makes this a common response. Let us therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our times of need (Heb 4.16). God turns our mourning into dancing.
What's also interesting about this passage in Matthew 21 is the fact that it is one of the few pictures of worship available to us in the New Testament outside of the book of Revelation. We hear about Paul and Silas worshiping God in prison, we hear about the disciples and Jesus singing together, we listen to Mary magnifying God in Luke, but here in this passage we actually have a description of a large group of people worshiping the coming King. It's this scene of people opening their hearts and hopes before the Lord that we were calling to mind as we wrote the verses. 'Praise is rising, eyes are turning to you; hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for you'. By the time Jesus makes his entrance into Jerusalem Israel had almost forgotten what it was like to have an anointed King leading them. In fact, Simeon and Anna are noted in Luke just because they lived in hope of the coming Kingdom of God.
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25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (Luke 2)
38 Coming up to them at that very moment, [Anna] gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2)People had given up hope that God would ever remember Israel and return her to her days of glory under David and Solomon. So much so that the few who hadn't given up hope were noted in Lukes letter. I like this. I like that when we come to God, when we call on Him, we are expressing a hope that He will save us. And what's exciting for me is that God takes note of that. He delights in that. Like any dad is excited by his children's hope in him, God delights in those who put their hope in him. In fact that the writer of Hebrews goes further than that when he says
'... without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11.5-7) Isn't that about the most encouraging thing to know as turn our eyes to God in worship? That God is waiting to reward those who are diligently seeking him - us! No wonder we can petition God and praise him in the same breath! Hosanna!
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