Hallowed be Your name,
For You are pure and sinless,
You are the great I AM,
Before whom we stand in awe,
God of truth and righteousness,
God of mercy and justice.
Bible passages for study: Psalm 100:1-5; Revelation 4:4-11
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness
continues through all generations.
Revelation 4:4-11
1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the centre, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Notes:
1. Calling God our Father confirms and affirms the relationship that defines us. God is “Our Father”. Not only is God our Father, near to us like any father, but also he is also exalted and in Heaven. We lift and exalt his name. We appeal to his name that is set apart and holy.
2. God’s name reveals who he is. God’s name also shows us why he acts as he does. That is why we not only exalt his name, we also appeal to his name when we pray and say “in his name” or “in Jesus’ name”.
3. Our God is a holy God. He is pure in his thoughts, in his attitudes and actions. God’s holiness sets him apart from us who are not holy. His purity and sinlessness also set him apart from us.
4. We stand before God in awe. We recognize his purity, his perfection, his beauty and we bow in respect. We stand and gaze on him with wonder at all that he is. As we gaze on him and exalt him in worship we begin to see and understand wisdom, truth, righteousness and mercy. All these qualities are perfected in God and only make sense in relation to him.
5. God described himself to Moses at the burning bush as “I am”. There is no beginning to God and no ending. He existed always. Behind everything we see and experience in the world, God is there. God cannot be understood by human categories. Human words and descriptions can never fully describe or explain who God is. Throughout our lives we keep discovering new things about our God as we worship him.
Questions for reflection:
1. What are the names of God that are significant in the Old Testament and how do God’s people appeal to God’s name?
2. In worship we celebrate God’s holiness and his righteousness. How should God’s holiness and righteousness shape our daily lives as followers of Christ?
