We all have childhood memories of coming into church on Palm Sunday, waving palm fronds. For me, growing up in Miami, we had access to plenty of palm fronds in our neighborhoods, and some of those fronds were bigger than we were! It was all in celebration of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, a bold statement of His royal Messiahship, just days before His passion.
And the music of Palm Sunday has included marvelous celebrations of that royal entrance into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-10. And of course we love to hear the chorus Lift Up Your Heads, based on Psalm 24, in Handel’s classic oratorio Messiah.
Some of the greatest musical resources for us are found in our hymnals, including All Glory, Laud, and Honor. The music we use for this was written about 1615 by Melchior Teschner, a church theologian/ musician, about a century after Luther posted his 95 Theses that launched the Protestant Reformation. It has been given the tune name ST. THEODULPH, named after the man who wrote the words we use today, Theodulph of Orleans. Here is his story.
Many of our most powerful hymns were written in times of deep distress, and that was the case here. In the year 818, Theodulph was facing imprisonment. He had been a refugee from Spain after it had been overrun by Moorish conquerors. He settled in Italy where he became an abbot, and then became a member of the court of Charlemagne, who had been crowned Emperor on Christmas Day, 800.
Charlemagne recognized special skills in Theodulph and appointed him bishop of the city of Orleans, 70 miles southwest of Paris. In that position he wrote literary works for state occasions and was trusted as a scholar, church reformer, educator, and theological advisor to the Frankish emperor. These included sermons and theological treatises on baptism and the Holy Spirit.
After Charlemagne’s death in 814, his sons squabbled over his empire, which began to tear apart. By 818, one of these sons, Louis the Pious, suspected Theodulph of conniving with an Italian rival. He stripped Theodulph of his honors and ordered him to a monastery in Angiers on the River Maine.
Virtually imprisoned there, the walls of Saint-Aubin sealed him in. He lost his personal estate at Germigny and the radiant chapel he built there. No more would he be called to direct the church or write epitaphs for the imperial court.
There is, however, a greater emperor by far, Jesus, the King of kings, to whom Theodulph could appeal and from whom earthly rulers could never deny him access. He need never lose this other emperor’s favor. Walls could not shut him out. We have that same privilege, whatever “imprisoning” circumstances surround us, including the pandemic of 2020. However much Theodulph bemoaned the injustice done to him, he could still laud the King of kings. In his monastic cell in 820, he composed the verses of one of the greatest paeans ever written to our Savior.
All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King
To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
This is the frequent direction of the Scriptures, that in times of need we look to the Lord, not only in petition for His mercy, but also in praise of His glory. Remember the refrain, Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace ? Have you discovered how true that is, especially amid the coronavirus?
Within four years of the start of his imprisonment, Theodulph died. More than a thousand years later, the 1854 English translation of his hymn from the Latin original by John Mason Neale remains a favorite in the church’s Palm Sunday festivities.
The repeated refrain takes us to the Palm Sunday setting, and the sight and sound of the jubilant crowd welcoming King Jesus into the city. Remember that in those days in Israel, Sunday was the first day of the week, the day after the sabbath. It would be have been a busy day for market and travel, with lots of people already filling the streets, especially with the throngs filling the city in preparation for Passover just days away.
All glory, laud, and honor, to Thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
In stanza 1, we join our voices with the Palm Sunday crowd, singing to Jesus as He rides by on the donkey, proclaiming our acknowledgement that He is that promised Messianic King, the Son of God, highly blessed.
Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David’s royal Son,
who in the Lord’s name comest, the King and Blessed One. (Refrain)
In stanza 2, we announce our joy that angelic hosts, unseen by our eyes and unheard by our ears, are adding their voices to ours, singing praise to Him in the heavens. And it’s not only the angels but even the creation around us. What a sound and sight!
The company of angels are praising Thee on high,
and we with all creation in chorus make reply. (Refrain)
In stanza 3, weturn our attention to the people around, the Hebrews of the city and those who have come from distant lands for Passover, but who have now had an opportunity to see and hear Jesus’ words and miracles, and so are adding their prayers and anthems.
The people of the Hebrews with palms before thee went;
our praise and prayer and anthems before Thee we present. (Refrain)
In stanza 4, we once again direct our words to the Lord Jesus Himself, but from our vantage point, we know what the crowd did not realize: that His passion (His atoning death) was only a few days away. How great our joy since we know what it accomplished.
To Thee, before Thy passion, they sang their hymns of praise;
to Thee, now high exalted, our melody we raise. (Refrain)
In stanza 5, we ask that our praises and prayers would be acceptable in His sight. More than that, we anticipate that He will delight in our worship, and His Word assures us that He will and that He does, every time we laud His name.
Thou didst accept their praises; accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King. (Refrain)
Here is a link that will let you watch and listen to the hymn sung in 1913 in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge.