Sunday's Hymn: The Saints Should Never Be Dismayed

Someone should write a new tune for this wonderful hymn by William Cowper. (I could find only one video on YouTube.)

I especially love the last two lines. 

The saints should never be dismayed,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect His aid,
The Savior will appear.

This Abraham found: he raised the knife;
God saw, and said, Forbear!
Yon ram shall yield his meaner life;
Behold the victim there.

Once David seemed Saul’s certain prey;
But hark! the foe’s at hand;
Saul turns his arms another way,
To save th’invaded land.

When Jonah sank beneath the wave,
He thought to rise no more;
But God prepared a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.

Blest proofs of power and grace divine,
That meet us in His Word!
May every deep felt care of mine
Be trusted with the Lord.

Wait for His seasonable aid,
And though it tarry, wait:
The promise may be long delayed,
But cannot come too late.

—William Cowper

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• In the furnace of affliction at Tried With Fire
• Day by Day at The Happy Wonderer
• He Is a Faithful Father at The Outspoken Tulip
• Lord’s Day 13, 2020 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading, March 28, 2020

Here are a few pieces that encouraged me this week.

Providence

The Severe Mercy of a Stay at Home Order
“What the virus means for evil, perhaps the Lord means for our good. If anything, no matter how you’ve been affected by this shut-down, even if significantly, it can strengthen your faith and bring you into a closer reliance upon the One who never changes, never leaves, and never forsakes.” —Jared Wilson

5 Marks of Contentment
One mark is this: A contented spirit is a thankful spirit. “Scripture reminds us to give thanks in everything (1 Thess. 5:18). When we are content, we spy mercy in every condition and have our hearts laminated with thanksgiving. Anyone can thank God for prosperity, but the contented person blesses him when afflicted (2 Cor. 6:10; Phil. 4:9–11).” —Erik Raymond

God’s Nature

Who carries whom?
“One of the greatest things you can do in times of distress and uncertainty is to learn who God is.” —Sam Powell

Christian Living

Fear Not, for I Am With You
“Fear cripples people. It is a plague that can ravage the people of God and hinder us from walking confidently with our God and doing His will. When we are overwhelmed by the ‘giants in the land,’ the only thing that can displace our fear is the powerful presence of God.” —Eric B. Watkins in the lastest issue of Tabletalk magazine, which is, providentially, all about fear.

Theological Term of the Week: Triumphal Entry

triumphal entry
Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt prior to his crucifixion, when crowds welcomed him waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord … . ”1

• From scripture: 

  Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

  “Say to the daughter of Zion,

  ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

  humble, and mounted on a donkey,

  on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:1-11 ESV)

• From the ESV Study Bible : 

Jesus’ triumphal entry, with people waving palm branches to greet him, is celebrated in Christian tradition as “Palm Sunday.” His riding into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey fulfills OT Scripture (Zech. 9:9; see also Ps. 118:25–26). The waving of palm branches, which symbolically conveyed the notion of victory over one’s enemy, probably indicates that the people (mistakenly) thought that Jesus would then and there bring national deliverance from Israel’s political enemies, the Romans. Yet Jesus’ popular acclaim would not last; within a mere five days, the shouts of praise would turn to angry calls for his crucifixion.

• From The Final Days of Jesus by Andreas Kostenberger and Justin Taylor: 

Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–44; John 12:12–19)

The Passover crowds and inhabitants of Jerusalem were filled with messianic expectation, and Jesus does not disappoint. On Sunday morning, Jesus and his disciples are on the Mount of Olives as they approach Jerusalem. He sends two of his followers to the nearby village (Bethphage or Bethany), instructing them to bring a donkey and colt on which he will sit for his entrance into Jerusalem. By this intentional symbolic action, Jesus will clearly communicate his kingship to the expectant crowds of Passover pilgrims by fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, that Israel’s future king would come riding on the foal of a donkey, and by copying Solomon’s entrance into Jerusalem when he was declared king.

As Jesus makes his westward descent down the Mount of Ol- ives and toward the Holy City, the crowds rightly interpret his actions with expectant joy and respond in kind by spreading robes and leafy palm branches in his pathway to create a royal red carpet (see 2 Kings 9:13) and by acclaiming him their Davidic king:

Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!

(Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10; see also Isa. 9:7)

The crowds are openly acclaiming Jesus instead of Caesar as king! 

The whole city is shaken by the events, and the crowd keeps spreading the word to any in Jerusalem who have not yet heard who Jesus is (Matt. 21:10–11). Some Pharisees instruct Jesus to re- buke the crowds for their dangerous messianic exuberance, but he refuses to correct or curtail the excitement of the crowd over his entrance into the city (Matt. 21:15–17; Luke 19:39–40). It would be hard to overestimate the political and religious volatility incited by Jesus’s actions—the Pharisees were taken by surprise and had no idea how to respond (John 12:19). Up to this point in Jesus’s ministry, he could still have managed to live a long, happy, peace- ful life, but his actions on Sunday set in motion a series of events that could result only in either his overthrow of the Romans and the current religious establishment—or his brutal death. He has crossed the point of no return; there would be no turning back. Caesar could allow no rival kings. As Jesus approaches the city, he weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44).

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What is the significance of the triumphal entry? Answer in text or video.
2. Holman Bible Dictionary: Triumphal Entry
3. Ligonier Ministries: The Triumphal Entry
4. C. H. Spurgeon: The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
5. S. Lewis Johnson: The Triumphal Entry (audio)

Related terms: 

• ascension of Jesus
• crucifixion 
• king (as an office of Christ)
• Messiah
• resurrection of Jesus
• temptation of Jesus
• Transfiguration

1John 12:13 (ESV)

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

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