This dramatic masterpiece was penned by a popular London stage dramatist. In 1820, Henry Hart Milman, who was also an Anglican vicar and soon-to-be Oxford poetry professor, was asked by Reginald Heber to write new texts that would replace the "vile trash" of contemporary hymnody with something truly worthy of the Church’s liturgy. Rather than placing us in the shoes of the Palm Sunday crowds who did not fully understand what they were cheering for, Milman wrote from a stance of profound faith. As the stanzas progress, the poetic vision acts like a camera panning upward: from the earthly road, to the "angel armies of the sky" looking down in wonder, and finally to the Father awaiting His anointed Son. When we sing the command to "ride on," we do so with the knowledge that Jesus is riding in "lowly pomp" specifically to suffer and die. We cheer our King onward because we know that His willing death is the very thing that will conquer sin and save the world.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026