Hymn Themes: Holy

God’s holiness means that He is separate from anything impure, and His holiness calls people to reflect His character by striving for righteousness and purity. It also entails that God is incomparable to any other thing. Even in heaven, when all sin will be erradicated forever, we will be in awe of God’s holiness.

In Ireland, and maybe everywhere else, people are often embarrassed or uncomfortable with the notion of holiness. No-one wants to be a holy Joe. Does that mean that we don’t want to be holy? In some cases, yes, but perhaps people don’t like to parade their spirituality. Even Jesus warned against this.

Matt 6:5
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

However, we are encouraged to be public about our faith too, provided that our motives are right. We should seek to encourage others to love and good works. And we can do this by setting a good example.

Hebrews 10:24-25
²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

One of the key motivations towards holiness is to focus on the holiness of God. It’s often said that in modern times people are losing sight of God’s holiness and focusing solely on his love. But a fair few modern songs do cover the theme of holiness. Here I present a mix of my favourite hymns on the theme of God’s holiness, some old and some new.

Holy Holy Holy

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

O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
Bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
With gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
Kneel and adore him the Lord is his name.

Holy Forever

Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest
Your name stands above them all
All thrones and dominions
All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all

Build My Life

Holy, there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder
Show me who You are, and fill me
With Your heart, and lead me
In Your love to those around me

Holy is the Lord

We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory

Revelation Song

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings
You are my everything and I will adore You

Holy God We Praise Thy Name

Holy God, we praise thy name!
Lord of all, we bow before thee!
All on Earth thy sceptre claim,
All in Heav'n above adore thee;
Infinite thy vast domain,
Everlasting is thy reign.

Holy is the Lord

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
holy is the Lord God almighty.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!

Holy is the Lord God Almighty

Lift up His name with the sound of singing 
Lift up His name in all the earth
Lift up your voice and give Him glory
For He is worthy to be praised

Holy Holy (Worthy is the lamb)

Holy, holy
Are You Lord God, Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb

Some might wonder what is meant by Worthy is the Lamb. When John the Baptist presented Jesus, he described him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And in the book of Revelation, the lamb gets the same worship that’s directed towards the Father.

Rev 5:12-14
 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”
¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.