AE 1206 - "To Fall Down"

AE 1206

And the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down
(Revelation 19:4)

signifies humiliation of heart of the higher heavens.
. . . "To fall down" means humiliation of heart,
because falling down upon the knees and upon the face
is a gesture corresponding to inmost humiliation,
which is called humiliation of heart;
for by creation there are gestures
corresponding to every affection,
and a man falls into them spontaneously
when he comes into the affection,
provided he has not learned
to counterfeit affections that are foreign to him;
while one who has learned to do so
takes on gestures from himself
by which he depicts affections of the heart,
although they do not belong at all to his heart.
Such can fall down before God,
but it is a purely counterfeit act.

This has been said to make known
that "falling down before God"
means to act from inmost affection,
which is called humiliation of heart;
this precedes worship,
which is an act of the lips.