"to praise"

"day and night they never stop saying:

'holy, holy, holy is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

who was, and is, and is to come."

-revelation 4:8

this verse utterly and totally captivates my soul.  it's one of those verses that no matter where i am in life, it makes me long for there. 

one of my very favorite things to do while we're singing at church is to stand in the center of the room, close my eyes, and sing along with a couple thousand of the other voices surrounding me, all singing praise to the LORD.  without fail, i find myself getting swept away with just a glimpse of what my eternity will be like.  

i heard a quote at church a few weeks ago that has stuck with me powerfully since that day:  "every glimpse of heaven that we have in scripture suggests that worship will be our eternal occupation."  the thought of standing before the throne of holy GOD forever and ever singing praises to his name is almost too powerful and too wonderful to comprehend.  it's unfathomable to imagine that i'll be participating in a corporate worship service like none other with men and women from ages past who have spent the last thousands of years doing what my heart longs to do now.

i really wanted to be at church today.  actually, i think it's safe to say that i needed to be there.  as the congregation began to sing "amazing grace", the instruments grew louder and the voices grew more powerful.  i closed my eyes and i could almost see throngs of saints lifting their hands in worship and adoration of the LORD.  and you know what thought overwhelmed me at that moment?

judah is already doing this.  i love GOD and long for his eternal presence from here on earth.  but judah is praising and worshiping GOD at his feet right now.

a couple of people have asked if i think i'll meet judah in the form of a man or will he still be a tiny five-pound baby that i'll one day finally be able to hold.  in all honesty, i have no clue what i think will happen in that regard.  i'm not even sure we'll have bodies in the way we think of them now, but i do know this:  if psalm 148 tells me that the sun, moon, stars, oceans, animals, plants, and storms "praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted", then there's not a shadow of doubt in my mind that a child who was formed in GOD's image and fashioned by his very hands can do the same.

after all...it's what he was named to do.

"then i heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

'to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!'"

revelation 5:13