Angelic Worship in the Third Heaven (Psalm 148)

 Psalm 148 focuses on the reality of worship, that it is taking place at different levels of creation, some of which we cannot understand such as how the planets or the animals take part in it. The psalm also gives reasons for worshipping the true God – the obvious reason in the psalm is his providence, his control of all things. And it reminds us of our responsibility to get involved in worship because all ages and both genders are included in the list of worshippers.

 

The references to the creatures are based on the creation account in Genesis 1, apart from when the angels were created. We are not told when they were created, or if their creation occurred early in the creation week. God reminded Job that the sons of God engaged in joyful praise as the foundations of the earth were laid. After the mention of the angels, then we have the heavenly bodies, then the seas, then the earth, then the animals, then humankind.

 

The psalm divides into four sections: worship in the third heaven (vv. 1-2), worship in the second heaven (vv. 3-6), worship on the earth (vv. 7-13) and worship from his people (v. 15).

 

Worship on high and worship below have two things in common; in each, there is worship from rational creatures and there is worship from non-rational creatures. The feature of non-rational worship reminds us that not all worship is the same. Yet the psalmist calls on all levels of creation to worship God. It is important to note that he is calling on them, not commanding them, to  worship. Yet his call is more than a desire; it is also an anticipation not only of what will happen in the short term but of what will yet take place in the glory to come.

 

As we noted, worship in the third heaven is engaged in by the angels. Of course, we know that the saints in heaven also worship and their omission here is not an indication that they are not there in the third heaven. The psalmist is encouraging us to think about the worship of the angels, who excel in strength, because doing so will help us in our worship.

 

What can we deduce about their worship? The emphasis here is on the unity of the angels as they worship the Lord – they all participate. There is also an emphasis on their number – there are hosts of them, and the number of them does not increase. The call to worship is not so much on the possibility of them going on mission for the Lord, which they engage in often, but on their pleasure in contemplating God and being led to a level of worship that fits their capabilities as well as the greatness and glory of God.

 

Our awareness of the fact that angels worship God and the example of the psalmist here in exhorting them to worship should cause us to wonder how they do so and what are the features of their worship. The Bible is not silent about their worship, and we can consider two important descriptions of their worship, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New.

 

Worship in Isaiah 6

Here in Isaiah 6 some seraphim praise the Lord for his holiness. We are not told how many seraphim there are in the vision. All we can say is that there are at least two of them and each has the same number of wings, and each does the same thing with his six wings (with two he hovers, with two he covers his feet, and with two he veils his face so not to look at God). There is no basis here for imagining that angels are creatures with wings. None of the seraphim look directly on God even although the form that God takes is a theophany, a form that makes him easier to understand to some degree. This is a reminder that curiosity and insensitivity in the things of God may be dangerous spiritually.

 

The call to worship between the seraphim is mutual and involves a measure of constancy – they continue to worship the holy One, which is a reminder that their experience of worship does not fluctuate away from the beauty of God to anything in his creation. Supposing they were never to hear of another divine activity, what they already knew about him would fill them with such intensity of praise that would continue eternally.

 

It is possible that the seraphim in this vision function as the praise leaders of the heavenly host. After all, they are burning with devotion, although they are creatures. They took seriously their calling to worship the Lord. Moreover, they can be seen as the guardians of the divine throne and perhaps Isaiah was apprehensive when one of them flew towards him.

 

The description of the worship of the seraphim is a reminder that in the worship of God there must be dignity, solemnity, reverence and adoration.

 

Worship in Revelation 4 and 5

When we come to the New Testament, one passage that describes angelic worship is Revelation 4 and 5. What is unveiled to or shown to John on that occasion is what took place in heaven sixty years earlier, on the day when the Saviour ascended there after his death and resurrection. As we can see, in this vision there is a different description of God and of the angels.

 

What is there different about God here? We can see the Trinity referred to. God the Father is described as light (likened to glowing jewels that stress his brightness). The Holy Spirit is likened to seven spirits (the number of perfection) and is in a posture that indicates he is ready to be sent on a mission. God the Son is not mentioned in chapter 4, although he is in chapter 5. God is described as a covenant God – the sign of the rainbow; and the throne is presented as far away, beyond the sea of glass, and awesome in power (thunder, lightning and fire).

 

There is also a different description of the angels. Two types are mentioned in chapter 4: the twenty-four elders and the cherubim (four angels similar to Isaiah’s seraphim guarding the throne). The cherubim lead the praise, and they are followed by the twenty-four elders expressing their submission to God by casting their crowns before his throne. Some want to see the elders as depicting believers, but the description of them in Revelation 7 distinguishes them from believers. Paul reminds us that there are different levels of authority among angels, and we can see signs of that authority here.

 

A mighty angel speaks in chapter 5, like a herald in a court announcing an important question or demand concerning who could open the scroll (some think that the speaker is Jesus, but that looks unlikely). It seemed no one had the authority to open it, which distressed John greatly. It could not be a question of power to open the scroll, because both God the Father and the Holy Spirit could have done so since they possess omnipotence. The authority lay somewhere else.

 

Obviously, the elders did not have authority to open the scroll, even although they had thrones to sit on. However, one of them knew who could open it and informed the distressed John that a successful Warrior of the royal line of David had the authority to do so.

 

This Warrior is standing in an unusual place, a place where no creature has stood before, between the cherubim and the throne. His right to be there has been acknowledged, otherwise he would not be there. The question is, can he go closer to the throne, even on to it? He can, and does, ascending to take the sealed scroll.

 

When this happens, the cherubim and the elders fall down in worship and sing a new song for the first time (the song of redemption about the triumphant Saviour would not have been sung previously). Unlike their previous song in chapter 4 which focussed on the Father as Creator, this new song focussed on the Son as Redeemer. The scroll, I think, is the Book of Life containing the names of the ransomed, the future kings of the new creation who will serve as worship leaders (priests). Jesus, on opening the scroll, will read out their names, which could be a way of describing their conversions.

 

A third group of angels numbering millions then join in and sing a different song about the worthiness of the Lamb, the divine Warrior and Redeemer. They are followed by the universal praise by every creature in heaven and earth who praise the Father and the Son (similar to what happens in Psalm 148). The cherubim then say, ‘May it be so,’ and the elders worship with great reverence.

 

Call to angels to worship

What should come into our minds when we sing the opening verses of Psalm 148? We saw something about angelic worship in the two passages that we reflected on. Can we deduce anything about the contents of angelic worship and how we can appreciate something of its method and content?

 

First, angels worship in an orderly way. We can see that is the case from the different contributions of those identified as seraphim, cherubim, elders and angels. There is nothing haphazard or bizarre in the way angels worship. Second, angels worship without cessation (night and day). This need not mean that they are constantly in the same location, but it does mean that they are consistent. Third, angels worship harmoniously – there are no worship wars taking place in heaven. None ever objects to the worship of the others. Fourth, angels worship enthusiastically. Worship is the response of a creature to the sovereign God, of a creature who has experienced grace in some way. When did the angels receive grace from God? Angels in heaven experienced divine grace when they were kept from falling when Satan rebelled, and the kept angels express grateful worship to God for their preservation.

 

Fifth, angels worship God as he has revealed himself, which makes their worship similar to how we worship. God has only revealed himself in two ways – the way of creation and the way of redemption. Obviously, they learn a great deal about God from creation – his power, his wisdom etc, because they have seen much more than we have. We can see how they list his attributes, which means that they understand God even as we do, through what he reveals about himself. Yet they have discovered other truth about God in the way of redemption, for example, his mercy that he has shown to us. This means that the content of their worship is progressive, and no doubt they as well as believers will discover more about God in the ages to come.