Revelation 4:9-11

New King James Version

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

“You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”

For Meditation

I screamed, NO! Not in the house of God, the church! 

No earthly king should sit in the church as on his throne, in full royal regalia, surrounded by his elders and linguists, ushered into the sanctuary amidst horn blowers and special people serenading him. The church sanctuary is a sacred house of God—sacred not because of mortar and bricks or any item put in it for His worship—but sacred because of the presence of our sovereign Lord in and among His people. Every activity in the church must be worshipful of only One King and Lord, Jesus Messiah. Period!

But there came an earthly king on this day to give thanks to the King of kings and Lord of lords in recognition of his birthday, which was well-intentioned and laudable. However, he should have known his place before the Lord – NOTHING! So, like all of us, he should have come humbled in every way, not in the exalted state in which he came and sat and acted. 

The sad part was how the priests stood there mesmerized and in worshipful mode. The question is, do we know the Lord of the church and His Otherness? If we do, where is the uniqueness of His honor? What happened to His exalted position that demands our prostration before Him?

So, today, let us peek into the heavenly temple and see how the Lord sits enthroned and worshipped by the twenty-four elders, four living creatures, and the angelic host (Rev 4:1-11). Observe what the Spirit revealed to the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos and cry over the way we have made the worship of God so ordinary as if the grace He has lavished on His redeemed has stripped Him of His Holiness as the only One deserving of our worship and honor (6-11).   

No one must receive the honor in the house of God like this earthly king received if the church acknowledges Jesus as the only sovereign King and Lord, who alone deserves our worship and praise. 

Everybody who comes to His sanctuary must lay their human accolades down and prostrate before Him, acknowledging His holiness and Lordship. We should fall down before Him as the twenty-four elders do before His throne in heaven—if not physically, in our hearts. Those who have “crowns” must lay them down before Him and cry out and say:

 “You are worthy, O Lord,

To receive glory and honor and power;

For You created all things,

And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Let us give to our King Eternal, proper worship, undefiled by human pride. That must include presidents, kings, chief executives, the rich and poor, and particularly, pastors and priests, and what have you.

Shalom