Palm Sunday - The Sunday Musical Offering ~ Ride On! Ride On In Majesty

“Henry H. Milman (b. St. James, London, England, 1791; d. Sunninghill, Berkshire, England, 1868) wrote this text around 1822. It was first published in Reginald Heber's  Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Services of the Year (1827). Of the text of this fine Palm Sunday hymn, Stanley L. Osborne has written,

“Objective, robust, confident, and stirring, it possesses that peculiar combination of tragedy and victory which draws the singer into the very centre of the drama. It is this which gives the hymn its power and its challenge (If Such Holy Song, 449).

“The text unites meekness and majesty, sacrifice and conquest, suffering and glory–all central to the gospel for Palm Sunday. Each stanza begins with "Ride on, ride on in majesty." Majesty is the text's theme as the writer helps us to experience the combination of victory and tragedy that characterizes the Triumphal Entry.

“Milman was a playwright, professor of poetry, historian, theologian, churchman, and hymn writer–and he was successful in all these areas. He graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford, England, in 1816, and by 1823 had written three popular plays with religious themes. He was appointed professor of poetry at Oxford in 1821 but turned to the study of church history after 1827. His History of the Jews (1829), which raised vehement protest from reviewers, was influenced by the new critical German methods. Ordained in 1817, Milman served St. Mary's Church in Reading and St. Margaret's Church in London; his most illustrious church appointment was as dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, a position he held from 1849 until his death. His finest scholarly work is his History of Latin Christianity (1854). Milman wrote thirteen hymns, all published in Bishop Heber's Hymns (1827)” (Psalter Hymnal Handbook).

The choir of King’s College in Cambridge offers this inspiring rendition of Ride On, Ride On In Majesty.

Love One Another - Brian