It can be hard for us sometimes to grasp the incredibly immense opulence and power God has and surrounds Himself with.

In 1910, the Jewish-Austrian composer Gustav Mahler premiered his eighth symphony. Mahler was known for writing big pieces with big orchestras and big choirs, but this symphony was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Its massive orchestra required a total of 171 musicians (if you’ve ever heard one trumpet, just imagine what 22 brass players might sound like). To balance the orchestra, Mahler had to enlist 858 singers for his choir. That works out to a grand total of 1,029 musicians.

To get an idea of the performance’s sheer size, take a look at this picture of the dress rehearsal for the 1910 premiere (Credit: Wikimedia Commons).

While Mahler disapproved of the moniker, the symphony earned an appropriate nickname: “Symphony of a Thousand.”

We wouldn’t perform this in God’s House—its lyrics are based in false Christianity. But even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. That’s because the Auditorium only has a total of 823 seats. Forget the orchestra, there aren’t even enough seats in the theater for the 858-piece choir!

As for loudness, it’s hard to give an exact figure, but big orchestral performances can easily peak at 90-100 decibels (generally, anything over 85 decibels for a sustained period of time is considered unhealthy). Some have even peaked at 116 decibels. Mahler’s orchestra also includes a pipe organ, which alone can easily hit 100 decibels.

This piece is huge.

And yet, it is nothing compared to God’s throne room.

The apostle John received a vision of the throne room while writing the book of Revelation. In chapter 5, verse 11, John said he heard “the voice of many angels … and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” At least 101,000,000 angels.

That’s 98,153 times bigger than the premiere of Mahler 8.

While John records these angels singing, he also records angels in heaven playing harps (Revelation 14:2) and trumpets (Revelation 8:2). Elsewhere, the Bible records that stringed instruments out of ivory palaces gladden God (Psalm 45:8, Revised Standard Version). These are some of the instruments from God’s own angelic orchestra.

If this particular ensemble wanted a Mahler 8 setup: the original 22 brass players would become 2,159,378; the 84 strings would become 8,244,897; and the 858 singers would become 84,215,743—larger than the entire population of modern Germany. There’s no need for air molecules in heaven, but consider: A single trumpet can usually peak at around 110 decibels. 2,159,378 of them combined would reach over 170 decibels—nearing the loudness of the Krakatoa eruption—as music. And that’s from less than 3 percent of the orchestra.

The music in God’s throne room is also constant. Along with this symphony are four “beasts”—having the form of a lion, calf, man, and eagle—each with six wings, continuously praising God (Revelation 4:6-8). They are accompanied by 24 “elders,” fitted with crowns and clothed in white (verse 4). John records both the beasts and elders coming before God holding two things: harps and our prayers (Revelation 5:8).

As God listens to this music, He listens to our prayers.

John tells us what kind of music God hears from His angelic orchestra.
What kind of “music” does He hear from us? This incredible place is where we get to go every day when we get on our knees. And yet, how easy is it for us to start praying—only to quickly lose attention, drift in thought, and turn in a “sleepy-time” prayer to God? That’s what Satan wants, and it really takes going to war to fight that broadcast.

The next time you pray, think about where you are. Think about the colossal angelic choirs and orchestras present in that throne room. We’re supposed to open our prayers with praise: talk to God about this! Praise Him for the royal future He is offering us! And thank Him that—as He listens to this symphony of one hundred one million—He wants to hear a solo from you.