Holy, Holy, Holy: Poetry That Calls Us to Worship
There are poems we read, poems we remember, and poems that become part of us. And then there are poems we sing.
For the next several Tuesdays, Poetry Tuesday will explore some of the great hymns of the Christian faith. Hymns are, in a very real sense, poetry set free from the page. They give words to praise, doubt, sorrow, gratitude, confession, and hope—and then invite us to give those words back to God.
In this series, we'll look not only at the stories behind these hymns, but also at the poetry within them: their images, rhythms, language, theology, and enduring power. We begin with one of the great hymns of Christian worship: “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
The words were written by Reginald Heber (1783–1826), an English clergyman and poet who eventually became Bishop of Calcutta.
Heber was deeply interested in the quality of the hymns sung in the church. In his day, hymn singing in the Church of England was often quite limited, and Heber believed that the church needed hymns that expressed the full range of Christian faith.
He wrote “Holy, Holy, Holy” as a hymn for Trinity Sunday, the day on which Christians traditionally celebrate the doctrine of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
That purpose explains something important about the hymn. It isn't primarily telling a story. It is inviting us to contemplate a mystery.
The hymn begins with one of the most powerful declarations in Scripture:
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
The repetition is deliberate. It echoes Isaiah's vision of the throne of God:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.”
The same threefold declaration appears in Revelation, where heavenly creatures continually praise God.
Heber takes that biblical language and turns it into poetry that ordinary worshipers can sing.
The Poetry of Holiness
The first stanza immediately establishes the hymn's atmosphere:
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!
Notice how much the hymn accomplishes with repetition.
Holy. Holy. Holy.
The repeated word slows us down. It makes us say what is difficult to say: that God is utterly different from us, utterly pure, utterly worthy of worship.
But Heber doesn't leave us with holiness alone. He places “merciful and mighty” beside it.
That pairing is important. The God who is beyond our understanding is also the God who is merciful.
And then comes the theological center of the hymn:
“God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.”
A theological doctrine has become poetry.
“All Thy Works Shall Praise Thy Name”
The second stanza widens the scene:
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Here Heber draws heavily upon the imagery of Revelation.
We move from the congregation on earth to the saints and heavenly beings surrounding God's throne. The hymn seems to pull back the curtain between heaven and earth and allow us a glimpse of worship that is already taking place.
The phrase “which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be” is especially beautiful.
God is not merely the God who was.
He is the God who was, is, and shall ever be.
The language stretches across time because the subject of the poem transcends time.
“Though the Darkness Hide Thee”
Perhaps the most intriguing stanza is the third:
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.
Here the hymn acknowledges something that every thoughtful believer eventually encounters.
God is not always easy to see.
There are times when, as Heber puts it, “darkness” seems to hide Him.
Our eyes cannot see God's glory directly. Our understanding is limited. Our circumstances may obscure what we believe to be true about Him.
Yet the hymn does not resolve the mystery by pretending the darkness isn't there.
Instead, it moves through the darkness toward a confession:
“Only Thou art holy.”
And then comes one of the hymn's finest lines:
“Perfect in power, in love, and purity.”
Power without love could terrify us.
Love without power might comfort us but leave us uncertain.
Heber joins the two. The God who is perfect in power is also perfect in love.
“All Thy Works Shall Praise Thy Name”
The final stanza turns outward:
Holy, holy, holy! 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 scope has become universal.
Earth.
Sky.
Sea.
All creation is summoned into the song;
And notice that the hymn ends where it began—with the holiness of God and the mystery of the Trinity.
There is something satisfying about that circular movement. We begin with worship and end with worship.
We haven't explained God.
We have encountered Him.
A Hymn for More Than Trinity Sunday
Although Heber wrote “Holy, Holy, Holy” for Trinity Sunday, the hymn has long since escaped the boundaries of that particular day.
Perhaps that is because it speaks to something deeper than a church calendar.
There are moments when we need words of petition.
There are moments when we need words of confession.
There are moments when we need words of comfort.
And there are moments when we simply need to stand still and remember who God is.
“Holy, Holy, Holy” is a hymn for those moments.
It doesn't ask us to understand everything.
It asks us to worship.
And perhaps that is one of the great gifts of poetry: sometimes the best words do not explain a mystery. They help us enter it.
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!
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:3
Until Next Tuesday
A good hymn doesn't merely tell us what someone else believed.
It gives us words with which we can believe, hope, remember, and worship.
That is why these old hymns have endured.
Next Tuesday, we'll turn to another great hymn and another poet whose words have helped generations of Christians give voice to their faith.
For today, though, perhaps it is enough simply to hear the words again:
Holy, holy, holy.
And let the song rise.
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Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness
, without which no man shall see the Lord:
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1 O worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness.
Glory to the Father, abounding in mercy!
Be joyful, all ye people,
and magnify Jehovah.
Chorus:
O glory, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
O come before His presence and glorify His name.
2 O worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness.
Glory be to Jesus, our gracious Redeemer!
We praise Him, for He loved us,
and bro't a great salvation. [Chorus]
3 O worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness.
Glory to the Spirit, the Holy Revealer!
We praise Him with the Father
and with the Son, our Savior. [Chorus]
Author: Robert Lowry (1873)
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