Reflections on worship – Revelation 5

The Focus. Worship must have the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb – the Lord Jesus – at the center of its focus.  The scene in heaven depicts the ultimate setting of worship.  It is not the beauty of heaven or the throne, not the awesomeness of the creatures or the gratefulness of the elders.  Definitely not the  trillions of the angels surrounding the throne, of course, not the sin stained but ransomed    multitudes of every tribe, language, people and nation (Rev.7v9).   No one is the focus of the ultimate worship but the Lord God Almighty, and Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to whom be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever (v13).

Ingredients of Worship

• Music. Using instruments like harps should blow our minds!  The whole universe united in melodious worship of Him who is on the throne and the Lamb.
• The Prayers of Saints (v8). Perpetually filling the throne room of heaven with sweet smelling incense.  Father, teach me to pray.  Help me to be devoted to prayer (Col. 4v2)

Note the content of the Songs of praise and worship!

Carefully reasoned out to recount the following:

1.   The power of the atoning blood of the Lamb shed on the cross (v9)
2. The redemption message arising from the finished work of Christ (v9)
3. The restoration of man to fellowship and service as a result of the cross (v10)
4. All these continue to explode in unhindered praise and worship of the King of all creatures – the Lamb (v12-14).

Note how the worship build up

It starts with the four creatures armed with harps and golden bowls containing the prayers of the saints. They are then joined by hundreds of millions of angels, the twenty-four elders then the whole creation  – in heaven, on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that are in them join in the refrain! – what a choir!

Lord Jesus, fill me with the heavenly tune today that I may worship you as I ought through the enabling of your indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.