Have you seen the commercial where a father and his son are together working in the garage and the son spontaneously says, “I love you, Dad”? Before the aging father got his hearing aids, he had to ask the son to repeat what was said. That all changed after he bought the new hearing aid being advertised. Now when they are working and the son says, “I love you, Dad,” his father asked him to repeat what he said simply because he wanted to hear it again. What about our Father? Does He ever tire of hearing us, or does He want to hear us say it again?
Think about singing and praising God. Twice the Bible gives us a view of what is happening around the throne of God. Over seven hundred years before Christ came, Isiah saw the Lord sitting on His throne with heavenly beings flying around that throne. What were they saying? “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3). Eight hundred years later, the apostle John saw God on His throne. What did he see? Four heavenly beings flying around the throne. “And they do not rest, day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come’” (Rev. 4:8). It was the same. God’s will was still being done perfectly in heaven, and the same praise was being given to our God. Have you considered that, when singing songs with this same phrase, we join in the praise with the heavenly chorus praising our God!
I immediately think of two songs we sing where the phrase is found. The chorus of “On Zion’s Glorious Summit” has the refrain, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of hosts, on high adored!” This song was written over 150 years ago, and Christians have used it since then.
The other song we sing even more often is “Holy, Holy, Holy” and has been sung since the Civil War. Every time it is sung, it duplicates on earth what has eternally happened in heaven. Our God wrote part of the lyrics of this song, and He never tires hearing it.
Add to this the song, “Worthy Art Thou,” which we sing. It was written by a brother in Christ, Tillit S. Teddlie, in 1930. I urge you to take the time to look at the lyrics and compare them to what John saw in Revelation chapter four. The lyrics of this song are almost identical to the lyrics of the praise John saw being given to Jesus. The entire creation, even earthly animals, are praising Jesus using these words.
Our point is this. These are not the only songs which use this heavenly language in praising God, but let us sing all of them joyfully. There are newer songs which use them, but the fact that these three songs have fed the souls of those who sang them for centuries speaks highly of them. May we never tire of praising the Holy One who is eternal and worthy.