Scripture: Rev 4:1-11
Key verse: (8) And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.”
Reflection: Great verse to kick off Halloween! Anyone going dressed up like the six winged, all-seeing hairy eyeball covered cherubim? I would give all of my candy at once to any biblically brave and literate child who did. More than how they look though I like what they sing. Growing up my home church started every Sunday morning singing the first verse of a hymn based on those words:
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!
I guess that’s old fashioned now, no one wants to sing the same thing every Sunday, year in and year out. I tried to institute it in the first church I served with no luck. It’s a missed opportunity though. That verse is deep in my muscle memory and will be with me as long as the scar on my right hand from my first pocket knife. There is somewhere in my brain where that refrain is sung day and night without ceasing and I can sometimes hear it and join along. I hear Mr. Jim in his deep baritone and Mrs. Dipchand with her beautiful East Indian cadence; I hear my Mother whose singing voice did not match her enthusiasm for singing and I hear my Father, who can sing, humming along. Not just a hymn but an entire congregation on earth and in heaven are forever with me and I suppose I am ever a part of. Such is the blessing of the communion of saints, that great company that has claimed us.
Prayer: 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!
Author: Derek Macleod
[Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved].