Holy! Holy! Holy!

Holy! Holy! Holy!

Reginald Heber was a remarkable young minister. He served for 16 years in a small English country parish, but he also had a deep heart for missions. So it was a unique opportunity when he was asked to serve as the Bishop of Calcutta—even though he had not yet reached the age of forty.

He quickly became greatly beloved in his new post, but the strain and harsh environment of ministry in India took its toll. He died in less than three years. Monuments were built in his memory, but his greatest legacy would not come from his sermons, nor even from the life he lived or the example he set.

Reginald Heber was a poet. He had won awards for his verse while still in school, and he was even a childhood friend of the great writer Sir Walter Scott. His legacy would come to us through a hymn he wrote to celebrate Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost. That hymn is known to us as “Holy! Holy! Holy!”

The hymn embraces the doctrine of the Trinity in its title, its lyrics, its meter, and its imagery. It is rich with symbols of God’s threefold nature in phrases such as “earth, sky, and sea,” “is, was, and shall be,” and “power, love, and purity.”

All the more remarkable is the fact that it was written during a time when the Anglican Church had banned the use of hymns in worship. After Heber’s death in 1826, John Dykes composed the music, and the result was a powerful, enduring hymn of faith. Nearly 200 years later, “Holy! Holy! Holy!” continues to hold a place in church hymnals around the world.

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HOLY! HOLY! HOLY!

1 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!

2 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.

3 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 pow’r, in love, and purity.

4 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!