Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 79 · March 20
The Crowns
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Twenty-four gold crowns land on the floor in front of a throne. Imagine the sound they make as they fall.
John gives us that picture before he gives us any words. The elders are seated around the throne, dressed in white and crowned with gold. Then they "fall down before him that sat on the throne," and they "cast their crowns before the throne." Whatever honour they were given to wear, they hand back to the One it came from. Then they speak.
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things." Their whole praise is about God being worthy. It asks for nothing; it simply says what God is owed, and gives it to Him. The reason is that He made everything there is. The last line says, "for thy pleasure they are and were created," and the Greek word translated "pleasure" there means His will. Everything that exists, exists because God willed it, and nothing anywhere holds itself up on its own.
One chapter later the same words come back, with a second reason added. This time the song is sung to the Lamb: "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." So first God made us, and then He bought us back.
You are welcome to join that praise, and you do not have to feel anything first. Say out loud the sentence that is true about Him, whether or not this week has gone well: "Thou art worthy, O Lord." Then lay down whatever you have been holding onto as your own crown. He made you, and He bought you back, and He is worthy of everything you could lay at His feet.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 79 is Hidden Safely (Psalm 31:20).