(The following is the December 5 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Revelation 4 and pay close attention to verses 1-11.)
Words can’t adequately describe the apostle John’s vision recorded in Revelation. Chapter 4 describes Heaven’s throne room and contains challenging images to understand. However, we mustn’t get bogged down in the imagery of verses 2-7, or we’ll miss the magnificence of the praise due to our glorious God in verses 8-11.
The hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” * appears at or near the beginning of several hymnals. Each verse begins with the threefold “Holy, holy, holy!” expressing the highest superlative imaginable to the only One worthy of praise. The first verse adds, “Lord God Almighty!” The hymn echoes what the creatures gathered around God’s throne in John’s vision said day and night: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come” (v. 8).
John describes 24 elders gathered around the throne. They humbly fell, casting their crowns before him, and worshiped, “Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created” (v. 11). They beheld God’s majesty and praised him.
Our most meaningful earthly moments of praise and worship can’t compare to what we’ll experience when we gather before our Lord in Heaven. John couldn’t describe it using images common to humankind, and our wildest imaginations can’t conceive the glory of that place. But it is real, and it is coming, and it is one day closer today than yesterday.
Next Step:
Think about the most meaningful worship moments you have experienced privately and publicly. Each such moment is but a grain of sand in the deep ocean of praise yet to come for God’s children. Praise him now for his greatness and his promise of eternal life.
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* “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty,” Hymnary.org, accessed October 25, 2022, https://hymnary.org/text/holy_holy_holy_lord_god_almighty_early.
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