Revelation 7:9-17 (NRSV)
Read Revelation 7:9-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. Verse 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Verse 11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, Verse 12singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
Verse 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" Verse 14I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Verse 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. Verse 16They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; Verse 17for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Devotion
We glimpse a multitude of saints singing in every language—what a beautiful vision of belonging! The saints are unified by their love for the crucified Lamb of God. With one voice they join in singing before God's throne. Yet they have not always been standing here experiencing this joy. They have suffered through an ordeal. They know what it's like to be in want, to hunger and thirst. But God has brought them through all of it. And their story isn't over yet. Their belonging will take a new form as the crucified and risen Lamb becomes their Shepherd. He will guide them to springs of the water of life. Like the saints of the past, we continue to sing in order to witness to the great and glorious things our God has done for us. We sing because we belong to this multitude of saints. We sing in anticipation of the joy that is yet to come.
Prayer
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to you, our God, forever and ever! Amen.