Scripture Verse

Behold, thy king cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass. Zechariah 9:9

Introduction

Words: Al­mer M. Pen­ne­well (1876–1969).

Music: Ab­er­deen, pos­si­bly by An­drew Tait, in James Chal­mers’ un­ti­tled col­lect­ion, 1749. Me­lo­dy from Ru­di­ments of Mu­sic, by Ro­bert Brem­ner, 1756 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Pen­ne­well (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

So low­ly doth the Sav­ior ride
A pal­try bor­rowed beast,
Nor pomp, nor show, nor lof­ty pride,
Nor boast above the least.

His scep­ter is His kind­li­ness,
His gran­deur is His grace,
His roy­al­ty is ho­li­ness,
And love is in His face.

’Tis thus the great Mes­si­ah came
To break the ty­rants’ will,
To heal the peo­ple of their shame,
And no­ble­ness in­still.

Ride on, O King, ride on Your way,
While men of low de­gree
Exalt and ush­er in the day
Of peace we long to see.