Vivid Worship
Opening Prayer
Almighty and Eternal God, all praise is due You, and I join with the angels to give it to You now.
Read REVELATION 4:1-11
[1] After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” [2] At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. [3] And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. [4] Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. [5] From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. [6] Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. [7] The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. [8] Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” [9] Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: [11] “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
Who was the one sitting on the throne?From the background of a persecuted church, John is allowed to glimpse heaven and is given a taste of how things should be and will be. Moved by the Spirit (2) he sees an array of color, movement and action. Four creatures surround the throne, perhaps representing characteristics of God (6), and lead all of heaven in worship.
Worship is central to this picture. The 24 elders, representing people of all races and tribes who are true worshipers (4), fall to the floor and prostrate themselves (10), and the Holy Spirit is present and powerful in the form of flaming lamps (5). God’s power is again seen through lightning and thunder, as it was when the Ten Commandments were given on Mount Sinai (see Exod. 19:16).
The words used in this scene of worship, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (8), echo Isaiah 6:3 with a reminder that God is eternal: what he always has been he always will be. Often we get bogged down in the “now,” and our worship becomes self-centered. Here we learn what worship can be, and get a glimpse of the why!
Apply
Consider how physical and all-absorbing your worship of God is. Is there something here to learn and do?
Closing prayer
Lord, teach me to worship You as do Your saints in heaven. I want my worship to please and glorify You.
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