HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

Hear the anthem, or song of praise, which the angels sing to the honour of him that sits on the throne, Observe,

How this song was sung. With zeal and fervency--they cried aloud and with unanimity--they cried to another, or one with another they sang alternately, but in concert, and without the least jarring voice to interrupt the harmony.

What the song was it is the same with that which is sung by the four living creatures, Revelation 4:8. Note, Praising God always was, and will be to eternity, the work of heaven, and the constant employment of blessed spirits above, Psalm 84:4. Note further, The church above is the same in its praises there is no change of times or notes there. Two things the seraphim here give God the praise of:

His infinite perfections in himself. Here is one of his most glorious titles praised: he is the Lord of hosts, of their hosts, of all hosts and one of his most glorious attributes, his holiness, without which his being the Lord of hosts (or, as it is in the parallel place, Revelation 4:8, the Lord God Almighty) could not be so much as it is the matter of our joy and praise for power, without purity to guide it, would be a terror to mankind. None of all the divine attributes is so celebrated in scripture as this is. God's power was spoken twice (Psalm 62:11), but his holiness thrice, Holy, holy, holy. This bespeaks, the zeal and fervency of the angels in praising God they even want words to express themselves, and therefore repeat the same again.

The particular pleasure they take in contemplating the holiness of God this is a subject they love to dwell upon, to harp upon, and are loth to leave.

The superlative excellency of God's holiness, above that of the purest creatures. He is holy, thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally, perfectly, and eternally so.

It may refer to the three person in the Godhead, Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit (for it follows, Isaiah 6:8, Who will go for us?) or perhaps to that which was, and is, and is to come for that title of God's honour is added to this song, Revelation 4:8. Some make the angels here to applaud the equity of that sentence which God was now about to pronounce upon the Jewish nation. Herein he was, and is, and will be, holy his ways are equal.

The manifestation of these to the children of men: The earth is full of his glory, the glory of his power and purity for he is holy in all his works, Psalm 145:17. The Jews thought the glory of God should be confined to their land but it is here intimated that in the gospel times (which are pointed to in this chapter) the glory of God should fill all the earth, the glory of his holiness, which is indeed the glory of all his other attributes this then filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1), but, in the latter days, the earth shall be full of it. - Matthew Henry