I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.
Today’s song is Holy, Holy, Holy from the early 19th Century.
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.
Some evangelicals might consider this one a bit too “churchy”, but I’ve always liked such hymns. Even back when I was into all the charismatic choruses in 1981, I remember buying a tape of Church of England hymns in Killarney, and I loved them all.
In recent years, I discovered lots of hymns on YouTube from The New English Hymnal. Though I’m a Baptist, I’ve benefited greatly from evangelical Anglicans over the years. My own father-in-law is an evangelical Anglican. And I think of people like J.I.Packer, John Stott, David Watson, N. T. Wright, and Alister McGrath. And then, you have historical evangelical Anglicans, such as John Newton, George Whitfield, JC Ryle, John and Charles Wesley, William Wilberforce and so on. Many Anglicans aren’t evangelical. You even hear of some Anglican clergymen who don’t believe in God. To me, that’s downright weird. Nevertheless, I love all their hymns, even those that weren’t written by evangelicals.
So who wrote this one? Reginald Heber (1783–1826) was Bishop of Calcutta. Back when he wrote it, hymns were seen as a little radical or dubious in Anglican circles. Some wanted to stick with metrical Psalms. I don’t know if those in heaven know what’s going on on earth, but if some do, I’m sure that the writer would be happy to see how widely the hymn is sung. It has been performed by groups ranging from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge to Hillsong United. And it spans all denominations. Sometimes, we might regret how the reformation split the church into so many denominations and movements. But though organizations differ, we do manage to bless each other and work together. It’s probably never a good idea to have everything controlled by one man or one organization. We don’t have that anymore, and neither do we have crusades against heretics and people of other faiths and burning people at the stake for heresy.
I like how the hymn focuses on God, particularly His holiness. That’s something that we’ll delight in doing when we get to heaven. The hymn is based on a passage from the book of Revelation. For some, that’s a puzzling book or a book with all sorts of secrets about the future. But I always think of it as a devotional book. I’m not bothered about the specifics. I just love the overall flavour of it. I wonder if heaven is so utterly different that the only way to convey its mood is to speak in symbolic terms. That’s how I understand the symbolism of Revelation, thought it does convey truth, even if that truth is expressed in symbolic terms.
Revelation 4:8
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.
And you have something similar in the Old Testament book of Isaiah:
Isaiah 1:6
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
So here are some other performances of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 