Palm Sunday (OT)

Zechariah 9:9-17

⁹  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

       Behold, your king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

       humble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰    I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

       and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and he shall speak peace to the nations;

       his rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹    As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹²    Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

¹³    For I have bent Judah as my bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.

       I will stir up your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, O Greece,

and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

¹⁴    Then the Lord will appear over them,

and his arrow will go forth like lightning;

       the Lord God will sound the trumpet

and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵    The Lord of hosts will protect them,

and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,

       and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,

and be full like a bowl,

drenched like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶    On that day the Lord their God will save them,

as the flock of his people;

       for like the jewels of a crown

they shall shine on his land.

¹⁷    For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!

Grain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

Rejoice! Your King is coming to you righteous and having salvation. Rejoice! The Lord of armies will sound the trumpet. Rejoice! The Lord God will protect his people from the war horses, armies, and battle bows. The nations rise up against the people of Israel. The Nations come to destroy them.

God has sent nations to destroy his people. God condemned his people for their sin. God judged the wickedness of his people. But God sends to his people their King. God sends them a King to sit on the throne of David forever.

Rejoice! For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior. Jesus Christ comes to us humble and righteous having salvation. He provides salvation for his people through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the Lord of Hosts who does provide salvation, and protect the flock of Jerusalem by laying down his life for the sheep. He lays down his life for you.