Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. —Isaiah 6:3
The most perfect worshipers in all His creation inside or outside the universe are the angels. Angels are created, nonmaterial, spiritual beings who cannot be seen with the naked eye unless they choose to reveal themselves to us. There are various categories of angels. We know the names of two prominent angels, Michael and Gabriel, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that every angel has his own name.
The first thing we can learn about angels with reference to worship is that angels adore God alone. The prophet Isaiah was given to see with his spiritual eyes what is going on in heaven all the time (Isa. 6:1-3).
Everything is done out of love for God. Whatever feeling angels may have for us, their priority is the glory of God. Angels exist to do God’s will. As we have seen, they are God’s messengers to us, and they reveal God’s will to us. You can’t argue with or bargain with an angel: they do what they are ordered to do. Angels never tire of worshiping God.
The focal point of the worship of angels is the triune God. They worship Him though they do not know the joy of redemption. They know nothing about the shed blood of the cross being applied to them. Another thing about angels is that they perceive the true essence of God’s character. They know that God is holy. God will never cease to be God throughout eternity. Though they have been in His presence and have been worshiping Him for millions of years, the angels still show great reverence for God.
We can learn from angels. And the more we learn, the better we will worship God and the more they will rejoice.
Excerpted from Worshipping God (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004).
