In this series, I explore some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀.
Select the arrow for my “general intro” (which I’m reusing for all the modern hymns that I explore)
I grew up with rock music, so it’s not such a shocking thing for me to explore these. Back in my earlier years as a Christian, we had the old hymns and some modern choruses that originated in the 1970s charismatic movement. As time went on, I started to prefer the older hymns.
Nowadays, I try to maintain an interest in all Christian music. It’s easy to find “trendy” Christian music annoying, even as a Christian 😀. I don’t know why. But I’m trying to overcome that prejudice. Perhaps the older hymns give us a sense of history, but many of these would have been similar to popular music of their day. So maybe people cringed when they first heard some of these too 😀.
Anyway, today’s hymn is Hosanna. It’s from 2008. Perhaps for some, that’s old, but the whole 21st Century feels new to me.
Back when I was a Roman Catholic, I remember a phrase from the Mass – “Hosanna in the highest”. I didn’t really know what the word meant. It’s one of these words that’s transliterated rather than translated. Here’s where it’s mentioned:
Matthew 21:9
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then, when I started to attend evangelical churches in 1980, we used to sing a song that included Hosanna in the chorus. In fact, quite a few hymns use the word in the title or lyrics.
I suspect that many don’t know what it means, but somehow they feel engaged with God when they use the word. It’s a little like “speaking in tongues”, but it’s just one very special word that feels sacred – a little like Hallelujah or Amen.
So what does “Hosanna” mean?
Hosanna is an ancient Hebrew–Aramaic word meaning “save, please,” which began as a desperate prayer for help and later became a joyful shout of praise in both Judaism and Christianity. So, as the crowds celebrated the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem, they shouted the word.
I think Hosanna is one of my favourites of the modern hymns, if not the favourite. I know little or nothing about Hillsong United, but there’s something very endearing about the voice of the lady who sings it – Brooke Ligertwood. And I love both the lyrics and the melody.
The focus of the first verse is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ:
I see the King of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes, yeah
Here are some other versions of the hymn:
And here are another few songs with Hosanna in the title:
Hibernia Gospel 