Revelation 4:9-10 9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
The scene of praise and worship around God’s throne continues. Worship lies at the heart of God’s creation. John saw two groups worshiping. The four living creatures appear to be the leaders who prompt the twenty-four elders to join in. The worship around God’s throne is spontaneous, indicated by the word whenever (hotan). The four creatures’ threefold response provides a good example of how to respond to God’s holiness in wonder and awe.
Glory (doxan) acknowledges God’s awesomeness and puts God in the proper place of the highest honor. The word used expresses the deepest worship that elevates God to the highest position. God’s glory is so overwhelming that no one can see God and live. To experience God’s glory is a matter of grace. Honor (timēn) means to give someone the due he or she deserves. It is esteeming and acknowledging the worthiness and high position of a person. To honor God means to accept God as Creator and the only being worthy to be worshiped. Thanks (eucharistian) is the response one gives to God’s “grace” (charis, which is at the root of this word). God is good and gracious, and the proper response we should give is gratefulness for his forgiveness and offer of eternal life. Our very existence is an expression of God’s love, mercy, and grace.
These three qualities lead one to accept and see God as seated on the throne and as the eternal one. The twenty-four elders join in this worship because they too acknowledge God’s awesomeness. Realizing that God is beyond human comprehension yet comes to us in love brings one to fall down in worship. Their response echoes the living creatures by accepting God’s sovereignty and eternality. These verses give the reason for worship: God is eternal and worthy of our praise.
The elders’ worship shows humility by laying their crowns before God. These crowns may have been given to them for their suffering and faithfulness. By laying them before God in submission, they acknowledge that God was the one who sustained them through suffering. They could not have made it through life without God’s grace. They return to God their greatest honor because God is the source of their very existence. We like to hold on to valuable things, thinking that we earned them through hard work. Worship confesses God’s worthiness and submits all of life to God in thankfulness.