Word of Encouragement (10/6/2021)

Let’s take another look at the prayer in Rev. 4:10-11: “...the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’” Yesterday, we talked about how God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Today, let’s focus on the way the twenty-four angels are praising God.

First, we see them fall down before God, who is seated on the throne. These twenty-four elders are glorious beings themselves—not divine but still glorious as far as creatures go. Each of them has a throne to himself. Their thrones are situated around the throne of God. And they are “clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads” (Rev. 4:4). Yet, when they catch a glimpse of God, they cannot help but fall on their knees or prostrate themselves before God and worship Him.

We have a hard time identifying with these twenty-four elders and their almost involuntary act of worshipping God in His presence. In this world, we hardly see anyone or anything that so overwhelms us that we feel compelled to fall down in reverence. This shows that even the highest creaturely glory is infinitely inferior to God’s divine glory. These twenty-four elders could not remain seated in their thrones. Their thrones meant nothing before God’s glory and honor and power.

If that is the case, how much more for human beings? When the Old Testament saints encountered God’s appearance, they feared for their lives. For instance, catching sight of God in His vision, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:5)! If we can worship God so casually now, it is only because our vision of faith is weak and dull.

Obviously, we will not be able to worship God as these twenty-four elders in heaven do, or as we would worship Him someday in heaven when we can see fully, not dimly as we do now. But, God has given us many passages like this, in which saints and angels in heaven worship God in holy reverence, getting off their high horse (and even thrones!). These events are recorded for us so that we can use the imaginations of our faith to remind ourselves of the truth of God’s matchless glory and honor and power and worship Him in godly fear.

There is nothing humiliating about falling before God and worshipping Him. There is no shame in acknowledging that which is beautiful and majestic and precious. In fact, there is something ennobling and uplifting and liberating about encountering something sublime and admiring it, especially God who is supreme in glory and honor and power. Just compare that to sinners glorying in shame! In worshipping God, we break out of the smallness of our being and our navel-gazing vision and are taken by the vastness and majesty of who God is and what He has done for us. When we capture a vision of God, we can gladly come down from our thrones and fall before Him. When we do that, we will feel far more exalted and uplifted than sitting on any throne in this world or heaven! May this vision of the twenty-four elders falling down to worship God make you hungry and thirsty for worshipping Him in spirit and truth!

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