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What is heaven like? Worship. Incredible worship. I hesitate to use the word “incredible,” because it can also mean “not credible.” However, the meaning has changed over time and has come to mean “amazing” or words like it. Once again, I find myself unable to use descriptive words from the English language to describe what heaven is like as well as the worship there. So, if you can find more adequate adjectives, please feel free to throw in.
I really enjoy worshiping God when I pray. I won’t detail how I do this, but my involvement in it increased dramatically when I set my mind that I was worshiping the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, the God who possesses perfect power and perfect knowledge, allows or causes all that happens in the universe and on earth, the Almighty God who suffered punishment and died for us, the only such being in the entire universe.
Recently, I “came across” this passage from Psalm 148: “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:1–13). 1
What stood out to me as I read this was that the psalmist was actually telling these different entities to praise Yahweh.
Angels
God’s armies
Sun
Moon
Shining stars
Highest heavens
Waters above the heavens
Great sea creatures
Fire and hail
Snow and mist
Stormy wind
Mountains and hills
Fruit trees and all cedars
Beasts and all livestock
Creeping things
Flying birds
Kings, princes, and rulers
All peoples
Young men, maiden, old men, and children
I rejoiced at this. I began to include it in my praise time before the Lord. And it seemed so…right. So honoring. So powerful.
Perhaps, you may say, the psalmist was simply speaking metaphorically or was overly enthusiastic.
In Revelation 5, Jesus is the only one who was worthy to take the scroll and open it. After He took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before Jesus. They had harps and bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They worshiped Him. Then the angels joined in, “ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands.”
Then, this: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13).
Who was praising the Father and Jesus? Every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and in the sea. These creatures were talking. Or singing. I don’t know. Neither do I know how the created things in Psalm 148 praised God. Nor do I know how mountains and hills sing, or how trees and rivers clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12; Psalm 98:8).
So, Christian reader, let me encourage you to join your voice with the saints, angels, twenty-four elders and all creatures. Call upon created things to join you as you worship and worship with them—worship the most amazing Being who is possible for us to know.
1All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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