20. Holy Holy Holy
Each
week in church we repeat the words of the Nicene Creed. This creed was
the product of the First Council
of Nicaea 325 A.D. . The Council was called by Constantine 1 in an
attempt to get agreement between the different churches on the divine
nature of Jesus. In an attempt to squash various heresies the council
agreed on the term
homoousios
which means ‘being of one substance’. It essentially stated that God and Jesus were absolutely equal.
The hymn Holy, Holy, Holy uses the tune written by John Bacchus Dykes called Nicaea (after the first Council). The words of the hymn were written by Reginald Heber (1783-1826) and echo the words found in Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8.
Heber wrote the hymn for Trinity Sunday.
In the New Testament, the word
Lagios
(Holy)
means apartness, set-apart, separateness, sacredness, otherness,
transcendent and totally other. The fact that God is referred to three
times by this word only goes
to accentuate even more the otherness of God.
In 1 Peter 1:15-16 you will find…
But as He who has called you is holy, so you should be
So as we sing of the holiness of God we are called to be holy ourselves.
A challenge indeed !
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!
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, blessed Trinity!