Holy, Holy, Holy

Text: Exodus 33:18-23; Isaiah 6:1-3; Isaiah 57:15; Revelation 4:6, 8

I’ve been singing this song since I wore my hair in pigtail braids. Maybe you remember singing it too. Did you notice how we say the word “holy” so many times? If I were editing this song for content, I would mark out a big chunk of holies with the note “redundant!” in the margin.

But is it redundant to call God holy three times? Is it just flowery and poetic, or is there real theological reason for this repetition? 

Poetry was in Reginald Heber’s blood. When he attended Oxford, his fellows threw him up on their shoulders and celebrated his earnest attempts at writing poems. They weren’t great poems, but that early recognition was enough to spur young Reg to a lifetime pursuit of verse.

Like most rich young men in the early 1800s, Reginald was poised to take a Grand European Tour after graduation. However, Napoleon had disrupted normal business, and instead of sunning himself in the south of France, Reginald found himself traveling by sledge to Moscow in the middle of January.

One might assume that, after that chilling experience, Reginald would be content to warm his feet by an English fire for the rest of his days. Instead, this experience opened up the world for him.

Years later, working in India as the Bishop of Calcutta, he continued to write poetry—both bad verses and beautiful ones. And somewhere between the foothills of the Himalayas and Bombay, he sat down to write his now famous hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

Just like a winter vacation in Russia, some things seem destined to disappoint. But Heber learned that God is not like men; He does not fail. God is not just a little holy. He is superlatively holy: the most holy.

Because of our own unholy nature, it’s difficult for us to conceive of just how holy and other is our good God. We see everything through the lens of our human experience, and it’s difficult not to let our sight be marred and limited by our own impurity and sin. Many cultures impose human weakness on their gods (remember the petty and impatient Greek gods?), but our God is not made in our image. He is holy and set apart.

“Holy, holy, holy” not only points us to God’s holiness, but also to the Trinity. The Trinity is unique to the Christian faith. Both God’s Holiness and His Trinitarian nature are foreign to us—but also absolutely vital. The unblemished majesty of God, in His Trinitarian perfection, sets Him apart from all of creation.

To understand God as He is, perfect in power, love and purity, will necessarily change how we see our world—disappointments, plans, and joys. God calls us to fix our eyes on Him and to see the beauty of His holiness, in the light of which the things of this earth grow dim.

God is both One and Many, Unity and Diversity. Let’s join all His works and praise His name, on earth, and sky, and sea.

Holy, Holy, Holy
Reginald Heber, 1826

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, blessèd 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!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

* Source: The English Hymn: A Critical and Historical Study, by J. R. Watson.