WE GIVE THEE THANKS
Jack Davis
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned” Rev. 11:15-17.
The joyous thanksgiving proffered here is first for who He is, and then for what He has done, as answered prayer. They speak of the Lord God Almighty, which “art’ as the omnipotent, and eternally self-existent One. See Rev. 19:6. The One who could say, before Abraham was, “I Am.” This was before the eternal living Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
Let us look at Rev. 11:17 in relation to Isa. 9:6-7, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
GOOD NEWS
“A child is born.” His birth was announced “good tidings of great joy” for He was born to be the Savior of the world. Oh, how thankful we are today for good news. Those people of that day were in need of that good news, as are we in need of good news today.
GREATEST GIFT
“A son is given.” The son that was given was the Beloved, well-pleasing Son of God. What shall we say to these things? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” What can we say to Him “that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” that He might with Him also freely give us all things? Shall we not say in word and deed, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gift” II Cor. 9:15. Thank God for His sinless Son, that was given for us on the cross.
GLORIOUS GOVERNMENT
“The government shall be upon His shoulder.” The thanks going to Him that was, is, and is to come, seems to climax here. The Savior of the world, the Son of God, is also worshipped as the Sovereign of the universe. Glory to God in the highest, For He must reign, He shall reign, and these say here, “Thou hast reigned.”
SONG OF THE SAINTS
Therefore, He is the Song of the Saints with the sounding of the seventh trumpet. What intense emotion, as they sound out the Sovereign’s triumph!
These same Saints are seen falling down before Him that sat on the throne and worshiping the Creator, Revelation 4:9,11. Then we hear from them again in Revelation 5, singing that beautiful melodious song of the redeemer, as a Lamb that was stain, who also as a Lion, had risen to reign. In chapters 4 & 5, we read that they fall down before the throne. In Revelation 11, they seem to bow even lower, “they fell upon their faces.”
Who are these that are so excited? Their proclamation, “We give thee thanks,” is not a matter of committee vote. They don’t sit down, saying, “Let us talk this over and decide. Well, we guess this would be the proper, possible appropriate thing to do.” Thank God, they don’t say, “Well, we suppose we should, and we could if asked, and the majority deems it necessary.”
Glory to God, these are those that have been submitting To Him, and supplicating Him for some time. These know well His right to reign, for He has held the throne-room of their hearts. Those he will reward with crowns of righteousness, co-heirs with the eternal One, kings and priests unto God, those He has redeemed to reign, have been bowing the knee, deeply earnestly supplicating “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Their constant, continual prayer, moment by moment, day by day, year after year, will finally gloriously have been answered. “We Give Thee Thanks” !!!
