Written by Reginald Heber (1783–1826) while he served as rector of a rural parish in Hodnet, Shropshire, this hymn was composed specifically for Trinity Sunday as a “powerful engine” of liturgical hymnody. The poet laureate Alfred Tennyson regarded it as the archetype of sacred poetry. To reflect the plurality of the Trinity, Heber structured the text entirely in triads: God is “holy, merciful and mighty”; He is adored by saints, cherubim, and seraphim; He is praised in earth, sky, and sea. The third stanza’s phrase “though the eye made blind by sin” is a deliberate theological contrast, setting human sinfulness against divine holiness—a contrast drawn from the heavenly vision of Revelation 4:8–11 that resists modern efforts to smooth it over. The majestic tune NICAEA was composed by John Bacchus Dykes for the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, and Dykes named it after the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), where the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was codified in the Nicene Creed.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026