And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within. And day and night, they never cease to say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come. And whenever living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.
– Revelation 4:8–10
Oh, just get the scene. This is day and night. At every moment, angels around the throne of God, never ceasing to say, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is, and is to come.” And they say it again and again and again and again, all day, all night long, like heaven is filled with continual unceasing, never ending worship of God and all of His holiness. Heaven is continually shouting. “There is no one like You, God.”
You are the Lord God almighty, who was and is, and is to come. There is no one like Him.” Like when you and I lay our head on our pillow at night and we go to sleep, they’re still singing. When we wake up in the morning, they’re still singing. When we gather together with the church and lift our voices, we’re not starting worship. We’re joining in worship that’s happening to God at every single moment. And these living creatures are giving verse nine, says, glory and honor and thanks to him who seated on the throne who lives forever and ever.
Revelation 4:8–10 Teaches Us God is Perfect in Power
I just would say, let’s join in. Right now. Let’s join in the song of heaven and say together, God, You are Holy Holy Holy. There is no word to describe You. We’re grasping at the leash of language to come up with words that describe Your greatness and Your glory and Your beauty and Your majesty and Your perfections and Your grace and Your mercy and Your justice and Your love and Your wrath and Your holiness and all these things. You are perfect. Perfect in knowledge.
Perfect in power. You are perfect in purity. Perfect in love. There is nothing wrong in You. Everything in You is right and good. And just. There is no one like You. We love looking at You. Oh God, we love fixing our eyes on You. You are so different than everyone, everything else in this world. Holy Holy Holy are You. We join with the angels who are singing that to You right now. Lord, we give You glory. We give You all honor. It’s due to You.
Revelation 4:8–10 Reminds Us All Glory Belongs to God
All glory is due to You. We gives You thanks for so many things You have done for multitudes of things You have done that we have seen and multitudes of things You have done that we have not seen. We give thanks to You for all the gifts of Your grace, for every single good thing that flows from You. Nothing good in our lives. Nothing good in the world does not have its authorship, its origination in You.
You are the author, the source of everything good. We give You glory for it. We give You honor for it. And we pray for the spread of Your glory through our lives. You would help us to point other people to Your holiness, Your greatness, Your grace. Help us to live toward that end and not just in our lives right around us, but to the ends of the earth, God, for the spread of Your glory in Ghana, we pray today. For the Wala people who worship all kinds of different gods and spirits.
This Verse Reminds Us There is Only One God
God may they know that there is only one Lord God almighty, who is Holy Holy Holy. We pray for the spread of the gospel among the Wala people of Ghana. Oh God help us to live in worship. Help us to constantly join with the angels in heaven in giving You glory and honor and thanks. Transform our lives to be worshipful lives. We long for the day. We long for the day when we will be around Your throne. Lord, we will see You in all of Your glory and enjoy You for all of eternity. God help us to live for that day, to live with longing for that day and to lead others, to see and behold and enjoy and exalt Your glory on that day. In Jesus’ name, we pray, according to Revelation 4:8–10, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
