Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Extol the Lord our God, and worship at His holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!
Psalm 99:9
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
Luke 1:48-50
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, to be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy: 1:17
And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Luke 17:12-13
The identity of God is revealed throughout the Bible. Certain words, written by people inspired by the Holy Spirit, give us insight into the characteristics of God. In today’s reflection, we have used four passages of Scripture. The line of the Doxology that we are reflecting on addresses God as “Holy,” “Mighty,” and “Immortal,” and asks for Him to have mercy on us. The four short Scripture passages mirror this. These are not the only examples in the Bible of these characteristics of God, just a sample of each.
We know that “holy” means set apart. Thus, God is set apart from everything else in the created world—there are holy people, like saints. We are called upon to live holy lives, lives dedicated to God. However, there is none other that is holy like God.
Another characteristic of God is might, and strength. There is no other entity in the created world that has the strength of God. God can cause, or stop, or affect anything. His abilities are indescribable and incomprehensible. There are certain laws of nature—certain causes create certain affects; there are things like gravity, time, space. And these things move in a certain way in regard to everyone. God is the only one who can suspend these laws.
Immortal means without end. The soul of each human being is immortal, in the sense that it will exist for eternity. It’s just a question of where each soul will exist—either with God in heaven, or estranged from God, in hell. With God, there is not only immortality towards the future, there is immortality towards the past. While our souls will live forever, they have not always existed. At our conception, our soul was stamped on us by God. However, God was not conceived, or created. He exists forever, forever into the future, and forever back into the past.
This line of the doxology is a simple prayer request, and that is for mercy. Mercy means to spare us from the thing we deserve. We’ve all seen courtroom scenes in movies where a criminal appeals for mercy from the judge. He or she is deserving of punishment but begs the judge to not meet out the deserved punishment. Because of the Fall, sin entered the world. And having taken our place in the world, we are all guilty of sin. We all sin constantly, every day. In Romans 6:23, St. Paul writes “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The punishment which we all deserve is death. It is an act of mercy from God to avoid punishment. We all need mercy and we all need it constantly.
There are certain translations of the Doxology that make this line descriptive—i.e. Holy is God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal. This would not be correct. This line is actually a prayer addressed to God, asking for mercy. Thus, we are addressing God—Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. These are not just qualities of God, this is how we address God. It is a fair question to ask whether we see God as these thing—Holy, Mighty, Immortal and merciful—or does that even matter?
While we are addressing an incomprehensible and unseen God, it is important to remember that He is not unknown. In fact, one of the ways we know God is when we model ourselves after Him. For instance, we understand God more when we understand what it means to be holy, and we understand that when we strive for holiness ourselves. We understand God when we work at setting ourselves apart for Him. If we never think about holiness, let alone work for it, we will not understand the holy nature of God.
We draw strength from our relationship with the Lord, this is where the “mighty” characteristic of God can be understood. The might and strength of God is not only found in amazing feats, but is experienced by us through humility—when we strive for God to increase in us, by decreasing our own egos, this is where the might and strength of God is felt.
As for immortality, this is not a goal, it is a reality. Our souls, the divine imprint that God has put on our lives, our souls are immortal. They will live forever. It is just a question of where they are going to live. Which path have we chosen? Have we given this much thought? Every day, we take on step closer to the end of our lives. Are we working towards unity with God—salvation, heaven—or are we doing things that sever us from God and lead to condemnation—hell, destruction.
Since no one is deserving of heaven, and no one can claim heaven, or earn it, to enter into heaven is the ultimate act of mercy on the part of God, to allow the incomplete and imperfect human being to enter into the perfect and permanent realm of God. In hope of this ultimate act of mercy, we are supposed to exhibit God-like qualities in our life—love, charity, patience, forgiveness and mercy, among others. God will judge each person worthy or unworthy of entrance into His kingdom. It will take an act of mercy on the part of God to admit us to heaven. Thus, it is incumbent on each of us that we practice being merciful to one another.
Today’s prayer is the Trisagion Prayer, that we are supposed to offer to God each day. It is offered on a daily basis in our church services, and on days we do not attend services, should be offered by each of us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages Amen. All Holy Trinity have mercy on us. Lord forgive our sins. Master pardon our iniquities. Holy One visit and heal our infirmities for Your Name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages Amen.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
This line of the Doxology, also repeated later in the Divine Liturgy, is called “The Trisagion Hymn,” because it mentions the word “Agios” or “Holy” three times. It is not only a glimpse into how we see God, but also a guide into how we should model ourselves after God—as striving for holiness, by drawing strength from God, working our way to immortality, and being merciful to one another.
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