Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty is a hymn by Reginald Heber, an English vicar who later became Bishop of Calcutta. He wrote it for Trinity Sunday, and it was first printed in 1826. Almost every line comes from Scripture, chiefly the vision of God's throne in Revelation 4, where living creatures cry day and night, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8), and Isaiah 6:3.
Reginald Heber (1783-1826) was a gifted poet, a prize-winner at Oxford, who spent sixteen years as the vicar of a country parish at Hodnet in Shropshire. He wanted hymns that followed the church year and its Scripture readings, at a time when many English churches sang only metrical psalms. Holy, Holy, Holy was written for Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost, when one of the readings was Revelation 4. In 1823 Heber sailed for India as Bishop of Calcutta, and he died there suddenly in 1826, at forty-two. His widow gathered his hymns and published them the next year. The hymn became world famous after John Bacchus Dykes wrote the tune Nicaea for it in 1861, named for the church council of AD 325 that defended the full deity of Christ. Alfred, Lord Tennyson is said to have called it the finest hymn in the English language. The words are unusual: there is no rhyme scheme in the usual sense, every stanza rhymes on the same sound, and the hymn never asks God for anything. It only adores Him. Below are Heber's four stanzas and the 12 KJV passages they are built on.
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty: the words
Verse 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!
Verse 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,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be!
Verse 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 power, in love, and purity!
Verse 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!
Words: Reginald Heber, written for Trinity Sunday while he was vicar of Hodnet, Shropshire, first printed in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury (third edition, 1826), and then in Heber's posthumous Hymns, Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (London, 1827), under Trinity Sunday (Internet Archive scan). Checked against the Wikipedia transcription. Public domain. Many hymnals print the fourth line of stanza 4 as God in three Persons, blessed Trinity, with a capital P; the 1827 printing has a small p. Tune: Nicaea, by John Bacchus Dykes (1861).
Holy, holy, holy: the song of heaven
1. Isaiah 6:3
"And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Holy, holy, holy. Heber's opening words are the song Isaiah heard in the temple, in the year King Uzziah died, when he saw the Lord high and lifted up: And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Hebrew repeats a word to make it stronger, and this is the only quality of God that Scripture lifts to the third degree. God is not called love, love, love or power, power, power. Holy means set apart, wholly other, pure. Everything else about God is holy love and holy power.
2. Psalms 5:3
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. Heber wrote for a Sunday morning service, and his second line echoes David: My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Before the day's work, before the news and the noise, the first word goes to God. Many churches still open Sunday worship with this hymn for that reason. A morning that begins with God's holiness sets the rest of the day in its proper place.
3. Revelation 4:8
"And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."
Lord God Almighty. John, in exile on Patmos, was shown a door opened in heaven. Around God's throne were four living creatures, the beasts of the KJV, which means living beings: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Heber took both the title and the closing line of his second stanza from this verse. The worship of heaven never stops. When a church sings this hymn, it joins a song that is already going on.
4. Matthew 28:19
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
God in three persons, blessed Trinity. The word Trinity is not in the Bible, but the truth it names is. Jesus told His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Notice that He said the name, not the names: one God, three persons. Heber wrote for Trinity Sunday, and the thrice-holy song of Isaiah and Revelation has long been read by Christians as a hint of the three persons. The Father is holy, the Son is holy, the Holy Ghost is holy, and they are one God.
Golden crowns around the glassy sea
5. Revelation 4:6
"And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind."
Around the glassy sea. In John's vision, the floor of heaven's throne room shines: And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. In Scripture the sea often stands for chaos and danger. Here it is still, clear and calm, like glass. Nothing in heaven is stormy or hidden. Heber's glassy sea pictures a place of perfect peace and perfect clarity, where God's people stand before Him without fear (Revelation 15:2).
6. Revelation 4:10
"The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,"
Casting down their golden crowns. The twenty-four elders in John's vision wear crowns, yet when the living creatures praise God, they fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne. A crown is a reward, an honor, a sign of rule. The elders do not keep theirs. They give everything back to the One who gave it. That is the posture of true worship: whatever God has given us, we lay at His feet.
7. Isaiah 6:2
"Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee. Isaiah saw the seraphim, burning ones, above God's throne: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Even these sinless, shining beings cover their faces before God. If angels hide their faces, we should not take God lightly. Yet the same chapter shows God's mercy: a seraph flies to Isaiah with a live coal, touches his lips and says his sin is purged (Isaiah 6:7).
8. Revelation 1:8
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be. Heber uses old English forms: wert means were, art means are. The line comes from the way God names Himself in Revelation: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God was there before anything began and will be there after everything we know has ended. Every generation that sings this hymn sings to the same God.
Only Thou art holy: all Thy works shall praise Thy name
9. 1 Samuel 2:2
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God."
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee. Hannah prayed for years for a child. When God answered and gave her Samuel, she sang: There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Heber borrows her very words. Hannah's song is not abstract theology; it comes from a woman who had cried in the temple and been heard. God's holiness is not only a reason for awe. It is a reason for trust, because the holy God is also a rock.
10. 1 Timothy 6:16
"Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
Though the darkness hide Thee, though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see. Paul describes God as the One dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see. Heber's third stanza says it the other way around: God's light is so bright that, to sinful eyes, it is like darkness. We cannot see God as He is and live (Exodus 33:20). That is why the Son came. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son has declared Him (John 1:18).
11. Revelation 15:4
"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."
Perfect in power, in love, and purity. Those who overcome sing the song of Moses and the Lamb beside the sea of glass: Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee. Heber's line lists three perfections together, and they belong together. Power without love would be frightening. Love without purity would be weak. In God, power, love and purity are one, and that is what holy means.
12. Psalms 145:10
"All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee."
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. The last stanza repeats the first, but widens the circle from the church to the whole creation. David says: All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. Earth, sky and sea already declare God's glory in their own way (Psalm 19:1). The hymn ends where Isaiah's vision began, with the whole earth full of His glory, and invites every singer to add a voice.
A short prayer
Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, early in the morning I lift my song to You. You are holy, and there is none beside You: perfect in power, in love and in purity. Like the elders around Your throne, I lay down every crown, every success and every honor at Your feet. Though my sinful eyes cannot see Your glory, thank You for showing Yourself in Jesus Christ, and for the mercy that cleanses lips and hearts. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, receive my worship today. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Holy, Holy, Holy?
Reginald Heber (1783-1826), an English clergyman, wrote the words while he was vicar of Hodnet in Shropshire, for Trinity Sunday. He became Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and died in India in 1826. The hymn was first printed in 1826 and appeared in his collected hymns in 1827. The tune Nicaea was written for it by John Bacchus Dykes and published in Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861.
Is Holy, Holy, Holy in the public domain?
Yes. Heber's words were published in 1826 and 1827, and Dykes's tune Nicaea in 1861, so both are in the public domain. You may print and project the traditional words freely. Modern arrangements with new choruses or added lines can be under copyright, so check the source if you use a recent version.
Why is holy repeated three times?
Hebrew often repeats a word to make it as strong as possible, and Holy, holy, holy is the song of the angels in both Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. It says that God is holy beyond comparison. Christians have also heard in the three-fold Holy an echo of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is why Heber joined the angels' song to the line God in three persons, blessed Trinity.
What does the glassy sea mean in the hymn?
It comes from Revelation 4:6, where John sees before God's throne a sea of glass like unto crystal. It pictures the stillness, purity and clarity of heaven. Seas in the Bible often stand for chaos and danger, but this sea is calm as glass. In Revelation 15:2 the saints who have overcome stand on it and sing, so Heber pictures them casting down their crowns around it.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: The holiness of God · Worship · Crown Him With Many Crowns · The glory of God · Names of Jesus · Hebrew names of God · Call to worship Bible verses · Morning · Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (lyrics)
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