Revelation 4:8 and 11

During my study of worship that I talked about in my previous post “My Attitude”, I came across the worship of God by the 4 living creatures in Revelation. Revelation 4:8 says, “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’” I thought it would be really neat to take these words from these creatures and turn it into a song that I could sing during my personal time of worship. I kept the song as close to the Biblical text as possible so I decided to title it after the verse.

Revelation 4:8

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come
Who was, and is, and is to come
Who was, and is, and is to come

Holy is the Lord
Holy is the Lord
Holy is the Lord
Holy is the Lord

One of the coolest things from this passage in Revelation 4 is that when these 4 living creatures worship God, there’s another group, the twenty-four elders, who respond with their own worship. Revelation 4:9-11 says, “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’” There’s this perpetual back and forth worship of our Lord God. As I read this, I really wanted to make this response a song as well. Like the previous song, I kept it as close to the Biblical text as I could so it is also titled after the verse.

Revelation 4:11

Worthy are You Lord our God of all
Worthy are You Lord our God of all

To receive glory
And honor
And power
Forever
You’re worthy

For You created everything
By Your will they have their being

So we sing You’re worthy
You’re worthy
You’re worthy

What I really love about these two choruses is that, while they can be sung independently, they can also be sung in response to each other by individuals or choirs, like in the scene depicted in Revelation 4.