Agnus Dei 

Have you ever wondered how it is that the hosts of heaven sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” day and night and never tire of it?

There are a lot of amazing worship songs in the world that beautifully articulate the glories of who God is and what He has done. For centuries, human beings have penned millions of songs as a means to help the saints worship the only true God. But out of all these songs, it seems the simple song of the Lamb, as seen in Revelation chapter 5, might be the one that heaven is particularly fond of — the one they never tire of singing.

Why is heaven so fond of this song? I think it’s safe to say it’s because it centers on the beloved Son — the second member of the Trinity; the one sent by the Father and illuminated by the Spirit, who was slain in order to purchase people from every tribe, language, people, and nation to serve God and reign with him forever. 

Only those of us who are mortal in nature can ever tire of singing “worthy” to the Son. There will come a day, though, when we will be made new, and we too will never tire of singing this song. Its repetition will not bore us, but will take us deeper into the glories of Christ. Its message will not grow tired on our lips, because with each passing phrase we will catch a greater glimpse of the beauty of God.  

This song is a great reminder that there are times when we don’t need a lot of lyrics, we just need the right ones. Oftentimes when we worship, simple is better than complex; fewer words are more appropriate than many. The writer of Ecclesiastes shares wisdom about this, writing, 

“God is in heaven and you are on earth, therefore, let your words be few.” - Ecclesiastes 5:2 

We ought to regularly have moments of worship where we find ourselves speechless and in awe. Awe is the feeling of reverential wonder. It’s the root word for the more commonplace word “awesome,” meaning something deserving of awe. Awe is one of the central aspects of worship in heaven. The living creatures are covering their eyes, the elders are bowing down, and everyone is singing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” It is truly an “awe-some” scene.  

Our worship here on earth is meant to mimic, as best as we can, the worship of heaven. Sometimes the best way to do this is to sing our own version of Revelation’s song, and to let our words be few and our awe be great. When we posture our hearts and our minds in this way, we too join in the reverential wonder of the heavens, exalting Jesus — the Lamb who is worthy of our songs for all of eternity.