Isaac Watts, the father of English hymnody, published this text in his 1719 Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, the fourth of a five-part rendering of Psalm 118, on verses 24 through 26. Watts made his name by “Christianizing” the psalms, reading them through the Gospel, and his own heading for this one shows the aim: “Hosanna; the Lord’s Day: or, Christ’s Resurrection, and our Salvation.” Where the psalm spoke of the temple, Watts sang of “the Church on earth” and “the highest heavens,” and he applied “the day the Lord has made” to Sunday, the day of the resurrection. The cleverest stroke comes in the third stanza. Psalm 118:25 in the King James Version reads “save now”; Watts turned the English back into the Hebrew it had translated and wrote “Hosanna,” binding the psalm to the crowds who hailed Christ at His entry into Jerusalem. For weaving resurrection and triumphal entry together, the hymn is appointed for Easter Sunrise, Easter Day, and Palm Sunday alike.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026