Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory! Isaiah 6:3
THE THRICE HOLY ONE
When we see repetition in the OT it’s usually for the purpose of emphasis. To state a word three times in a row is comparable to our use of the superlative in English. Just as we would say great, greater, greatest, the OT here is saying the Lord of hosts is the holiest of all! He’s not just holy. He’s not just holier than other beings. He is the holiest being there is in and beyond the universe!
The word “holy” itself means “other, separate, different, distinct.” Holy means wholly other. The angels, created and holy in the sense of guiltless, cannot help but declare the “otherness” of God when in His presence. As heavenly as the seraphim are, God is even distinct from them to such a degree that they declare His “otherness” in the superlative!
God is so beautiful, perfect, good, just, sufficient, powerful that the only way to attempt a fitting description or an adequate accolade is to declare His “otherness”, His holiness. If the angels feel and sense that to such a degree that they must call it out to one another, how much more should we sense and feel and know and recognize and proclaim the holiness of God!
Not only is the Triune God the thrice holy One, the holiest of all, but everything He does reflects back to His glory. “The whole earth is full of His glory!” The whole of His creation radiates with the glory of the Wholly Other. This is our God!
“Lord, the seraphim see that You are the holiest of all and that the whole earth is full of Your glory. Give us eyes to see what they see and tongues to declare what they declare!”
