He is Holy

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, blessed 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 wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, Holy, Holy, though the darkness hide thee,
Thought 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, blessed Trinity!



The lyrics of this hymn were written by Reginald Herber.  Herber was a clergymen and became the Bishop of Calcutta.  Herber admired John Newton and William Cowper, and, since he already had a reputation as a poet, decided to write his own hymns which were slightly frowned upon by the bigwigs of the Anglican Church at the time.  I admire his audacity here.  Herber is cleary drawing from the worship of the angels in Scipture (Isa. 6:3, Rev. 4:8). But angels are dangerous and shouldn't be messed with.   Still, any hymn that begins and ends with proclaiming God has a good thing going for it. 

The tune itself is called Nicaea and is penned by John Bacchus Dykes. The name is a reference to the council of Nicaea in 325 (and again in 381) where Christian bishops and priests from all over the world provided some clarification of the Trinity.  Creeds are incredibly important.  Every church has a creed, even ones that say, "No Creed but Christ" (That being a creed in of itself).  The Nicaean Creed is one of the most important if not the most important creeds in church history, especially if you want to understand the Trinity.  That's all I'm going to say right now on creeds. Check out this book for a good read on Christian creeds. 

I've always like this hymn.  Holiness is an attribute of God that I've always felt was beyond my understanding.  I know personal holiness is a process and is good and teological, but man, I always get overwhelmed thinking about God's holiness.  I love the action of the saints in this hymn.  They sing early in the morning because that is the most important aspect of the day.  Like breakfast but greater.  They cast down their golden crowns because what are wordly goods next to the holiness of God?  This is something I need to remember.  I'm not a rich man, and there are days when I think if I had money all of my troubles will be solved.  Yet if golden crowns are found meaningless next to God's holiness, what is paper with a man's face on it?  I really think Herber captures the appropriate response to God's holiness.  We cast away the things that no longer have meaning and join with all of God's works praising His Holy Name.  Here is a congregation and choir singing this wonderful hymn.