Song of the Week - Revelation Song

"Holy, Holy, Holy!
Is the Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come!"

So go the angels in John's vision, as related in Revelation 4. And so goes Jennie Lee Riddle's wonderful "Revelation Song." This song has been around awhile, but has been recently getting a lot of notice, as it has been recently re-released on Gateway Worship's Wake Up the World album.

The story behind this song is amazing. Riddle is not a well-know composer. In fact, this is her only song in CCLI's listing. She wrote the song during a time of personal devotion she was having while waiting for her spaghetti dinner to cook. As she read, the melody came to her. Since her piano was put away, she picked up a guitar and began playing the four chords she had learned the day before.

She sang the song at her church and for small gatherings. When the Holy Spirt led her to give the song a wider distribution, she cut a couple of recordings and sent it out. A grassroots movement started, and eventually the song was chosen by the Christ for the Nations Institute for inclusion on their 2004 Glorious album, sung by Kari Jobi. After that, it was covered by Gateway and Don Moen in 2006. Jobi reprised the song to an updated arrangement on Wake Up the World.

The song is a very simple, very personal interpretation of John's Revelation vision.

Worthy is the,
Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song,
to Him who sits on
Heaven's Mercy Seat

I love the imagery in this song. It's so personal, so heartfelt.

Clothed in rainbows,
of living color
Flashes of lightning,
rolls of thunder

Wow. And the chorus simply echoes the song of the angels, and makes it personal.

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come,
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore You!

Four chords: D-Am7-C2-G. Repeat. You can play it with your eyes closed. I often do.


Here is Kari Jobi and Gateway singing the song:

Click here to go to CCLI