Simply State What Is True
“The Book of Revelation induces fear and trembling in many believers, since most people’s perceptions of it swim with doomsday prophecies. But if you read Revelation carefully, you’ll find it a primer on worship.
Revelation 4 invites us into the very throne room of God, through the eyes of John, who has been ushered through a door right into heaven. God the Father sits on a throne surrounded by a rainbow resembling an emerald and twenty-four elders sitting on thrones. In the center, four living creatures never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’ Whenever they verbalize their praise, which is constant, the elders fall down before the throne and state the worthiness of God.
As humans obsessed with variety and change, who insist on ice cream in every flavor and burgers with any combination of toppings, we balk at the seeming monotony of this scene. How can these creatures and elders bear this burden of repetition? When we progress through Revelation, we find more going on, yet this is the heartbeat of heaven: endless praise.
Since our culture applauds variety and ingenuity, we constantly feel stretched to make our prayers and worship entertaining. During public worship, a certain amount of creativity certainly does attract our culture, so let’s keep that up―we may win more for the kingdom. However, as G. K. Chesterton writes in Orthodoxy:
‘It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again,’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again,’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daises alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.’
God is not bored by what we consider monotony. He does not tire of the heavenly creatures constantly telling Him that He is holy, nor will He tire of us doing so. Rather than always trying to be inventive in our prayers [and worship], let’s try to simply state what is true. Speak to God the words of the creatures and elders in Revelation 4. These words take us into that throne room; involve us in the endless worship of a holy God…”
~Katherine Callahan-Howell
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty...
Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit both now and forever.
The God Who is, and was, and is to come, at the end of the ages, hallelujah.
Revelation 4 invites us into the very throne room of God, through the eyes of John, who has been ushered through a door right into heaven. God the Father sits on a throne surrounded by a rainbow resembling an emerald and twenty-four elders sitting on thrones. In the center, four living creatures never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’ Whenever they verbalize their praise, which is constant, the elders fall down before the throne and state the worthiness of God.
As humans obsessed with variety and change, who insist on ice cream in every flavor and burgers with any combination of toppings, we balk at the seeming monotony of this scene. How can these creatures and elders bear this burden of repetition? When we progress through Revelation, we find more going on, yet this is the heartbeat of heaven: endless praise.
Since our culture applauds variety and ingenuity, we constantly feel stretched to make our prayers and worship entertaining. During public worship, a certain amount of creativity certainly does attract our culture, so let’s keep that up―we may win more for the kingdom. However, as G. K. Chesterton writes in Orthodoxy:
‘It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again,’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again,’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daises alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.’
God is not bored by what we consider monotony. He does not tire of the heavenly creatures constantly telling Him that He is holy, nor will He tire of us doing so. Rather than always trying to be inventive in our prayers [and worship], let’s try to simply state what is true. Speak to God the words of the creatures and elders in Revelation 4. These words take us into that throne room; involve us in the endless worship of a holy God…”
~Katherine Callahan-Howell
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty...
Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit both now and forever.
The God Who is, and was, and is to come, at the end of the ages, hallelujah.
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