Oh save, Jehovah, I beseech thee; Jehovah, I beseech thee, oh send prosperity!
Most people know this verse by its Hebrew form: Hosanna. It is a cry for rescue that comes only after rescue is certain — and the crowds shouted it at Jesus on the road into Jerusalem.
"Hosanna" is this whole verse packed into one word.
This word, which is the same in the Greek, is considered to be a compound of two Hebrew words, and means "save now," as in Ps. 118:25. In the New Testament the sense appears to be "bestow blessing." "Bestow blessing on the Son of David: bestow blessing, O You who are in the highest." Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; John 12:13.
This cry comes late in the psalm. By then the trial and the sorrow are past, and the people can see whose work it all was.
"This comes from Jehovah" is now their cry, "and it is marvellous in our eyes." So indeed it will be; and the whole "day" will be seen to be of Jehovah's making. He has brought it all about, the trial and the sorrow which were His only way of blessing for them; and the end now reached its glorious completion. And now, with every hindrance to their blessing removed, their "Hosanna" ("save now") can be heard.
The verse asks two things: rescue and prosperity. Both come through the One who comes in the Lord's name — and Jesus said when the nation would ask.
If Christ is exalted at God's right hand, the godly man can raise his hosanna, or "save now." He can ask the Lord to send prosperity through the One who is coming in the name of the Lord. During His life on earth the Lord applies these words to Himself. He tells the nation that they will not see Him until, in their deep distress, they are brought to cry out, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:9; Matt. 23:39).
These are prophetic words, written long before. When the crowd used them, the King they speak of was standing among them.
"Save now, I beg You (that is, Hosanna), O Lord. O Lord, I beg You, send now prosperity. Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord." So wrote the psalmist by the spirit of prophecy. It refers to the coming day of Israel's final deliverance… The One mentioned in the psalm was among them. He was the King, the heir to David's throne, under whom it will be re-established.
Their words were right; their hearts were not. One writer explains why God moved them to speak anyway:
Happy for them if their hearts had been changed to keep this testimony in the Spirit. But God sovereignly moved their hearts to give this testimony; He could not allow His Son to be rejected without receiving it.
Jesus sang this psalm with His disciples. He knew what the next few hours held.
The hymn they sang was made up of Psalms 115, 116, 117 and 118… What deep feeling He must have had as He sang with His disciples!… A little while longer, just a few hours, and the builders would reject Him. A few days more, and by resurrection from the dead He would be the head of the corner, the chief stone. And in that shout, "Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord," He saw a welcome far in the future — from the remnant of His people, at the time of His Second Coming.
Timing is everything here. When this cry is finally raised, it cannot fail.
"Save now… send now prosperity" (v.25). This is a prayer that must be fully answered, for the time will have come for it to be exactly right. And the One who comes in the name of the Lord (that is, Christ Jesus) will be both welcome and blessed (v. 26).
- Hosanna — the verse in one word: "save now," which in the Gospels carries the sense of "bestow blessing."
- Stone first — the cry rises only after the rejected Stone becomes the cornerstone. Every hindrance is gone, so the Hosanna can be heard.
- Sung by Him — Jesus Himself sang these words with His disciples, hours before the builders rejected Him.
- Shouted too soon — the crowd said the right words with unchanged hearts. God moved them to honour the Son they would still reject.
- Answered at last — the same cry will rise again in deep distress. This time it cannot fail: the One who comes in the Lord's name will be welcomed.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah. We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah.
Someone is arriving, and a shout of welcome goes up in the Lord's own name. Commentators say these words were once cried out to Jesus in Jerusalem, but the day when Israel means them is still ahead.
Two parties meet in this verse: One who arrives, and the godly who are already inside God's house.
And the One who comes in the name of the Lord (that is, Christ Jesus) will be both welcome and blessed (v. 26). For the godly will have their place in the house of the Lord, and from there will affirm their welcoming blessing.
Crowds once used these words when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. But what was that shout worth?
When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey, the crowds cried, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:9). But that was the result of a sudden burst of enthusiasm, and had no lasting meaning, as what followed showed. Within a week He was crucified. The Lord knew how worthless their excited cry was. So a little later He said, "You will not see Me again, until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matt. 23:39). The Psalm speaks of the moment when they will see Him again, and utter the cry of welcome with full truth and sincerity.
Jesus used this line to set a limit. The small word "till" holds a promise inside a judgment.
He left their house to them desolate, "till" — not for ever, but "till you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah." When they say it, He is to come. Jehovah sends Him; for their hearts call Him "blessed" as He comes in Jehovah's name.
The order matters: a change of heart comes first, and the sight of Him follows.
Here we have a clear statement from the Lord Jesus: they will not see Him till they say, Blessed — till their heart turns to receive Him.
The phrase "in the name of the LORD" is not decoration. Who a people welcome shows what they are. One writer sets this cry beside Jesus' words about another who comes in his own name.
Here we have the decisive word: "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Jehovah); and this shows their spiritual condition. He had had to say of them: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him." (John 5:43.) Sad to say, they were hostile to God Himself. Their hearts were set on their own desires and would not give way; they both saw and hated "Him and His Father." (John 15:24.)
The second half of the verse changes speaker. Someone answers the arriving procession from inside.
Theirs is the cry, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of Jehovah." And blessing greets them "out of the house of Jehovah" — the sign, as we have seen, of restored favour. The last part of the verse reads as a reply from within, as the worshippers come near to Jehovah's dwelling.
The verse pictures blessing given out of the house of the Lord. One writer points to a time when that could not be said at all.
Moreover, this must not be in Jerusalem; He could not bless there now. It could not be written, it had not been: "We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord." He, the Lord who had loved it, had to leave Jerusalem to bless.
- Person — The blessing falls on One who comes. Commentators name Him as Christ Jesus, and the godly bless Him from inside God's house.
- Rehearsal — The crowds shouted these words on the road into Jerusalem. Writers call it a sudden burst of enthusiasm; within a week He was crucified.
- Condition — Jesus quoted the line as a limit, not a farewell: "till" you say it. Heart-change comes first, the sight of Him second.
- Test — The words "in the name of the LORD" expose where a heart stands. Jesus said they would welcome another who comes in his own name.
- Answer — The last line is a reply from inside the house. It marks restored favour — the blessing Jesus once had to step outside Jerusalem to give.