“The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the Throne and worship Him that lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the Throne, saying ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power—for Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Revelation 4:10-11
Our minds cannot even begin to comprehend this; we can only bow our heads, close our eyes and whisper it with hushed voice.
“Thou Art Worthy, O Lord.”
As you ponder the words of John’s glimpse into Heaven in Rev. 4, no doubt you find yourself pouring over ever word, trying to imagine how it must have looked. His first sight was of “a Throne set in Heaven and One sitting there” (v.2). Then, descriptive adjectives of the One Who sat there failed him and he had to resort to word-pictures of precious, dazzling gems: “Jasper and a sardis stone” (v.3a). And, surrounding the Throne was a most beautiful, emerald-green, glowing rainbow (v.3b).
Sitting around the Throne were “24 elders, clothed in white and wearing golden crowns” (v.4). And out of the Throne proceeded “lightnings and thundering and voices” (v.5a) while “seven lamps of fire burned in front of the Throne” (v.5b).
Oh, Pilgrim, can you imagine how that looked and sounded?
Not likely.
And, if that weren’t mind-boggling enough, in front of the Throne was “a sea of glass like unto crystal” (v.6a) and around the Throne were “four beasts, full of eyes in front and behind” (v.6b)—each having different appearances (v.7), but all having the same ability to fly with three sets of wings (v.8a).
From their mouths came the words “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was and is to come” (v.8). And, while those winged creatures gave “glory, honor and thanks to Him that sat on the Throne, Who lives forever and ever” (v.9), the 24 elders spontaneously fell down, cast down their crowns at His Feet and began worshipping Him as they cried today’s Manna aloud:
“Thou art worthy, O Lord. Thou art worthy, O Lord. You alone are worthy to receive glory and honor and power—for You, and You alone, are the One Who has created all things. And, it’s for Your pleasure—not ours or anyone else’s—that we exist and were created.”
No wonder “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father” on that Day (Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:11). There’ll be no proud-as-a-peacock, “I’m my own, self-made” individuals standing on that day—for HE ALONE is “worthy to receive glory, honor, power and praise.”
Help us, O Father, to remember this as we go about today. Help us to glorify You with our thoughts, words and deeds. Guide our steps in the path of Righteousness and use us as You see fit wherever we go. Thank You for loving us. . .pardoning us. . .and adopting us into Your Family. Truly, You alone are worthy. Use us, we pray. Amen and amen.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated June 20, 2010