Holy, Holy, Holy!

Here are some of the phrases we’ve sung this morning:

Holy, Holy is our God Almighty

Holy, Holy is His Name Alone!

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!

Only Thou art holy there is none beside Thee

Perfect in power in love in purity

And we cry Holy, Holy, Holy. And, we cry Holy, Holy, Holy.

And we cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb!

Looking at the verses of the song Holy, Holy, Holy these past couple of weeks some of the phrases just seemed to jump off the pages at me.

Holy, Holy, Holy. We read about that phrase in our responsive reading this week.

In both of the passages from Isaiah and the Revelation of Jesus Christ those words were being said by a particular group of beings. Who were they?

Isaiah - the seraphim

John - the four living creatures

These are creatures that, if we came face to face with them, we would faint or die of fright.

Why do the creatures say Holy, Holy, Holy instead of just Holy?

Do they see and understand the Trinity?

Is it because His Holiness is overwhelming?

I don’t imagine that these creatures were ever instructed to announce the Holiness of God in that way but that it just springs out of their hearts from being in the presence of the Lord God Almighty!

Deuteronomy 4:24, 31a, 10:17a

“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God … the Lord your God is a compassionate God … the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God.”

2 Chronicles 30:9, Ps. 47:7a,

“The Lord your God is gracious and compassionate … God is the King of all the earth …”

1 Cor. 10:13, 1 Tim. 4:4, 1 Jn. 1:5, 4:8

“God is faithful … God is good … God is light … God is love …”

Ex. 15:3, Ps. 10:16, 11:7, Joel 3:16

“The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name … The Lord is King forever and ever … The Lord is righteous … The Lord is a refuge …”

Nahum 1:2

“A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.”

1 Cor. 7:25, Jas. 5:11, 2 Pt. 3:9

“The Lord is trustworthy … the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful …

The Lord is patient …”

We never see the Lord described as, “just, just, just” or “love, love, love” or “mercy, mercy, mercy” only “Holy, holy, holy”!

Holiness encompasses all of His incredible attributes: Righteousness, Justice, Love, Mercy, Power, Compassion, Patience and the list goes on and on …

Isaiah 6:3, Rev. 4:8

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts … Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty …”

Imagine the absolute Power of His Holiness!

Do you realize that the Lord being The Ultimate Power of the Universe can either be horrifying or an amazing comfort?

Imagine you’re on a battlefield there are only two combatants - one is a kid with a Daisy BB gun, the other is an Abrams Tank. That tank is either a horrifying object of doom and destruction or a great comfort. It all depends on where you are … inside the tank or outside with a daisy BB gun.

Now, a tank, even an aircraft carrier can be destroyed. God’s power is so absolute and above all other powers that it is indestructible!

The same thing applies to His love, His mercy, His judgment, His knowledge, His eternal being, ALL OF HIS ATTRIBUTES ARE ABOVE AND BEYOND AT A SCALE WE CANNOT EVEN UNDERSTAND!

But, many of us, even those who claim to be Christians, treat Him like some kind of genie in a bottle.

God the vending machine or the 911 number.

Isaiah 40:28

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”

Now, the difference in this illustration about the boy and the tank is that on a battlefield the tank commander will probably not open the hatch and invite you in for safety! But the Lord God, the Almighty, the Commander of Heavens Army sent His one and only Son to make a way for you to come into the safety of His Kingdom!

One other difference is that the treads will never fall off of the King of Kings. There are no armor piercing rounds that can penetrate the hull of the Kingdom of God. You are safe but even in that safety you are aware of the unimaginable power of the one and only true God who is Holy, Holy, Holy!