Holy, holy, holy!

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Isaiah 6:1-8

"By employing this threefold repetition for His holiness, God is exalting His holiness to the highest possible measure."

"God is infinitely glorious in all His attributes, but only His holiness is magnified with this threefold ascription." (never do we read "wise, wise, wise" or "powerful, powerful, powerful" or "love, love, love") 

"Edward J. Young says that holy, as used in Isaiah 6:3, 'signifies the entirety of the divine perfection which separates God from His creation. God is the Creator who exists in absolute independence of the creature. He is the lord, and not a man. Although the creation depends on Him, He Himself is entirely independent thereof.'"

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! 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.

"Reading back through the hymn above, we notice the writer encompasses the attributes of mercy, might, power, love and purity all within the meaning of God's holiness. The holiness of God, in this respect, is not so much one of a number of other attributes, but the sum of them all."


*Excerpts from I Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges. Scripture from ESV. Lyrics from hymn Holy, holy, holy written by Reginald Heber.