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Hosanna

The word we cry as part of Palm Sunday worship is 'Hosanna'.  Hosanna to the King of David!  Hosanna to the king of kings!

Hosanna is a cry of praise to God.  The Brenton Brown song 'Praise is Rising' puts it well: 'You are the God who saves us/worthy of all our praises'.  When I was an atheist teenager I really loathed the idea of praise and worship - if God wanted people to worship him, didn't that make him a bighead?  I wasn't into subservience to authority and didn't like the idea of this ultimate authority figure demanding obedience and worship.

But hosanna is also a cry of petition - 'O Lord, save!'.  It recognises that we need salvation, and that Jesus can save us.  As a teenager I didn't think I needed salvation.  As teenagers we have the world at our feet; it all belongs to us and we could make it all better if only people would listen to us.  Now I know someone who is wiser than me - and who actually has the power to save.

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