We Worship Because He Created Us … to Worship
Devotional Meditation from Revelation 4-5 (Part 2)
Vernon M. Whaley, Ph.D.
July 8, 2026
A few years ago, I watched a little girl sitting beside her parents during a worship service. She couldn't have been more than four or five years old. She didn't know all the words to the hymn, and she certainly couldn't explain the theology behind what we were singing. But when the congregation stood, she stood. When everyone began to sing, she lifted her tiny voice with everyone else.
She sang enthusiastically. Sometimes she was on the right note. Sometimes she wasn't. Occasionally she simply made up the words. But none of that mattered. She wasn't performing. She wasn't trying to impress anyone. She was simply joining the song.
As I watched her, I found myself smiling. Then I wondered, Why do we do that? Why, in almost every culture and throughout every generation of God's people, have believers instinctively responded to God through song?
Before we answer that question, let's remember where we left off last week...
Before we turn our attention to worship through song, let's pause for a moment and remember where we left off last week.
In our first Called to Worship devotional, we stood with the Apostle John as the door of heaven opened before him. In the midst of uncertainty, suffering, and exile, John did not first see the turmoil of earth—he saw the throne of heaven. That single vision changed everything. We discovered that worship begins not with our circumstances but with God's sovereignty. We worship because He reigns. We worship because He created us with purpose. And we worship because the Lamb has redeemed us by His blood. In every season of life, our hearts find stability when our eyes are fixed on the One who sits upon the throne.
But John's heavenly vision raises another important question. If God created us for worship, why has singing always been such a central expression of that worship? Why does the Bible repeatedly call God's people to lift their voices? Why does heaven itself resound with songs of praise? Is music simply a beautiful tradition of the Church, or is it woven into God's design for His people?
As we continue our journey together, let's return once again to the throne room of heaven. There, surrounded by living creatures, elders, angels, and the redeemed of every nation, we discover that worship is not merely spoken—it is joyfully sung. And in heaven's song, we begin to understand why God has placed music within the heart of His people.
As John's eyes remain fixed upon the throne, another breathtaking scene unfolds before him. The twenty-four elders rise from their thrones, fall before the One seated upon the heavenly throne, and cast their crowns at His feet, saying,
"Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11)
I. His Design – He Created Us
We were created by God. Think about that for a moment. These elders possess crowns — symbols of honor, reward, authority, and victory. Yet in the overwhelming presence of God's majesty, they instinctively understand that every honor they possess has come from Him. Their response is not reluctance. It is joy. They gladly place their crowns at the feet of the One who alone is worthy.
That is worship. Worship is the joyful recognition that everything we are and everything we have ultimately belongs to God.
I have often wondered what it must have sounded like as those crowns struck the crystal sea surrounding God's throne. One by one, they were laid down — not because the elders were forced to surrender them, but because they discovered that the Giver is infinitely greater than His gifts.
Isn't that one of life's greatest lessons?
The longer I walk with Christ, the more convinced I become that every good thing in my life has been entrusted to me, not owned by me.
Every opportunity.
Every ability.
Every relationship.
Every accomplishment.
Every open door.
Every blessing.
All of it is grace.
Perhaps that is why pride quietly dissolves in the presence of God. When we truly see Him, self-importance suddenly seems very small. We stop asking, "How can I receive more recognition?" and begin asking, "How can Christ receive more glory?"
The elders understood something that our culture often forgets.
Our world constantly tells us to create our own identity, define our own purpose, and pursue our own dreams above everything else. We are encouraged to look within ourselves for meaning.
But Scripture points us in an entirely different direction.
Purpose is not something we invent. Purpose is something we discover. We discover it in the presence of the One who made us.
Revelation takes us all the way back to the beginning. The elders proclaim that God is worthy because He created all things. That includes you. That includes me.
Our lives are not cosmic accidents. We are not the random products of chance or circumstance. Before you drew your first breath, God knew you. Before your heart beat within your mother's womb, God lovingly fashioned you.
The Songwriter, King David, the man after God’s own heart, celebrated this beautiful truth when he wrote,
"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb."
(Psalm 139:13)
I never tire of reading those words.
The God who stretched the heavens into place also fashioned every human life with intentional care and divine purpose. And when He breathed into Adam the breath of life, He did far more than animate a body. He created a living soul with the capacity to know Him, love Him, walk with Him, and worship Him.
But, if God created us with such purpose, who do so many people still spend their lives searching for meaning?
II. His Desire – He Created us for Himself.
We were created for God. That’s why God placed eternity in our hearts and worship in our spiritual DNA. Deep within every human soul lives a longing that nothing in this world can fully satisfy.
We try. We pursue success. Recognition. Possessions. Experiences. Influence. Achievement. Yet even when we attain the things we once believed would satisfy us, something inside still whispers, "There must be more."
Why?
Because there is. We were never created merely to accumulate possessions or accomplishments. We were created for communion with God.
Several years ago, I visited the workshop of a gifted craftsman who built violins by hand. As I watched him patiently shape the wood, sand each curve, and carefully string the instrument, it occurred to me that every decision he made served one purpose — to produce beautiful music. Imagine taking one of those finely crafted violins and using it as a hammer. It could do the job.
But it would never fulfill the purpose for which it was designed.
How often do we do the same with our lives?
We search everywhere for significance except in the very relationship for which we were created. Yet the soul finds its deepest fulfillment only when it begins doing what it was designed to do. We were created to worship.
That does not mean we spend every moment singing hymns. Not at all. It means every part of life becomes an offering to God. Our work becomes worship. Our service becomes worship. Our generosity becomes worship. Our obedience becomes worship. Our homes become places of worship. Our conversations become opportunities to reflect His grace, to demonstrate our own deep worship of the God who made us.
The Apostle Paul captured this when he urges believers to present their bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1). In other words, worship is far more than something we attend on Sunday morning. It is the daily response of a heart that knows to whom it belongs.
That is why every human being worships something. The question is never whether we will worship. The question is what — or whom — will capture our highest affection.
Some worship success - Others worship comfort.
Some worship influence - Others worship pleasure.
Some even worship themselves. But, The human heart was made to bow.
The only question is: before whom?
III. His Delight – We find our Joy in Him
We discover our greatest joy in God. The elders had no difficulty answering that question. They cast their crowns before the throne because they understood a beautiful truth. Every gift pointed back to the Giver. Every blessing reflected His goodness. Every accomplishment became another reason to worship. Perhaps that is the invitation Revelation extends to each of us today.
What crown are you still holding?
Success?
Control?
Recognition?
Security?
A carefully constructed plan for your future?
Whatever it may be, worship invites us to place it into the hands of the One who gave it in the first place. And here we discover one of God's most beautiful paradoxes. When we surrender ourselves completely to Christ, we do not lose who we are. We finally become who God created us to be.
At His feet, our identity is clarified. Our purpose is restored. Our restless hearts finally come home. That is why we worship.
We do not worship because God needs our praise. Our God does not need anything. He is self-sufficient. We worship because we were lovingly created to find our greatest joy in Him. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with one of Christianity's most beloved statements:
"Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."
I cannot think of a better description of worship. To glorify Him. To enjoy Him. Forever.
As I finish writing these thoughts, I should probably tell you the rest of the story.
Do you remember the little four-year-old girl I mentioned at the beginning of this devotional—the one who stood beside her parents and sang with all her heart, even though she didn't know every word?
That little girl was our daughter, Laurie.
The family she was standing beside was Beth and me.
At the time, I simply smiled as I watched her sing. I don't think I realized then that God was allowing me to witness something far more significant than a child enjoying a hymn. He was allowing me to see a heart doing what it had been created to do.
Today, Laurie is the wife of a wonderful husband and the mother of three beautiful children—our grandchildren. Every Sunday, she and Jeremy faithfully teach those children to lift their own voices in worship. They are passing from one generation to the next the very same love for Christ that was quietly taking root in the heart of a little girl many years ago.
Every time I think about that, I'm reminded that worship is always more than music. It is a legacy. It is one generation teaching another that God is worthy.
Perhaps that's why the psalmist wrote,
"One generation shall commend Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts."
(Psalm 145:4)
One day our songs will cease on earth.
But worship never will.
Long after our voices grow silent, our children — and, Lord willing, our grandchildren — will continue singing the praises of the One who created them, redeemed them, and invites them to worship Him forever.
And that, my friend, is why we were created.!
