Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty. Reginald Heber* (1783-1826). This is the best known of Heber’s hymns, written for Trinity Sunday. It was first published in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury (Third Edition, 1826) and subsequently in Hymns written and adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (1827), published by his widow after his death.  It is a reverent and faithful paraphrase of Revelation 4: 8-11 and John’s vision of the unceasing worship in heaven. As such, it is a fine example of Heber’s care to avoid the charge of excessive subjectivity or cheap emotionalism in his hymns, and so to win support for the use of hymns in worship within the...