Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessd Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the
saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
Reginald Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" while serving as vicar of
Hodnet, Shropshire, England. He was the first to compile a hymnal
ordering hymns around the church calendar. Wanting to celebrate a
triune God, Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" for Trinity Sunday--a day
that reaffirmed the doctrine of the Trinity and was observed eight
Sundays after Easter. The hymn was first published in 1826.
Text and tune were first published together in 1861. Since that
time, this popular hymn has appeared in hundreds of hymnals and been
translated into many languages.
Heber was impressed by the holiness of God. Whether in England,
with the prevalence of vice, or in Calcutta, where people worshiped
idols, he would often write "Only Thou art holy." Based on the words
of Revelation 4:8, he used the symbolism of three repeatedly
throughout his hymn: God is "holy, merciful and mighty," he's "perfect
in power, in love and purity," he's worshiped by saints, cherubim, and
seraphim, and he's praised "in earth and sky and sea."
Through these consistent units of three, this hymn describes and
worships God in three persons. Alfred Lord Tennyson felt "Holy, Holy,
Holy" was the world's greatest hymn. It truly does call us to worship
our God, falling down before him with those who sing in Revelation
4:8, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and
is to come
