How little we presently know, understand, or appreciate our glorious God; how quickly many real believers grow tired of adoring the Lord.  Yet from glimpses of heaven given us in The Book of the Revelation, singing God’s praise appears to be our chief activity in eternity, at which time our glorified bodies will be perfectly equipped to fully value the Lord, and in so doing, will be overwhelmed with ecstatic delight to focus on Him alone and to proclaim His glories. 

            The Angels.  The first song (Rev. 4:8) will have been sung by “the four living creatures” (4:8), perhaps a unique quartet of created angelic beings.  The second song will have been sung by the “twenty-four elders” (4:11), which we believe to be representative of the New Testament church.  The third song will have been sung by a chorus including both those groups (5:9, 10).  Then, to that august group will be added all the voices of the angelic hosts of heaven.  John describes it thus:  “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands” (5:11).  You have heard enthusiastic singing referred to as “making the rafters ring.”  Well, myriad is the transliterated Greek word meaning “ten thousand,” the largest number for which the Greeks had a word.  Since ten thousand times ten thousand equals one hundred million, we can barely imagine the size of this heavenly host of glorified saints and holy angels.  But we can imagine that our song will reverberate throughout the entire universe, making every star, and planet, moon and asteroid vibrate and echo the praise of God.

            The Anthem.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

To receive power and riches and wisdom and might

And honor and glory and blessing.

                                                   Rev. 5:12

            The Analysis.  Were it possible (which I suppose it is not) to single out one group of inspired words above another, we might be inclined to say that these are without peer.  In the first song, “the Lord God, the Almighty” will be praised; in the second, “our Lord and our God” are named; in the third, the Lord Jesus is addressed in the second person only as “You.”  But here, for the first time, the Lord Jesus Christ is identified as “the Lamb” of God.  This song will magnify the Lamb “that was slain”, the One who died for our sins according to the will of the Father, and has risen as vindication of His perfect obedience and complete fulfillment of the Father’s will, and is now seated at the Father’s right hand.