That For Which God Looks

 “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isa 66:2 AV)

The LORD is comparing all that Israel has done from building buildings to sacrifice, and He has concluded he would rather have people who are humble, apologetic, and respect His word.  This has always been the case.  From the garden of Eden, all God wants is a being that will love Him, trust Him, and obey Him.  There were no buildings or temples in Eden.  There was no sacrificial system of worship in Eden.  There was no written law.  Only one rule.  Don't eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil.  Adam and Eve had to trust the LORD as they had never seen death.  They had to love the LORD in that Eve had to love Him more than the fruit and Adam love God more than Eve.  This is all God requires.  This is all God looks for.  But it is that last phrase upon which we wish to meditate. To tremble at the words of the LORD is a lost practice today.  Not too many of God's people approach the word of God with such respect that it affects their very constitution.  We are more apt to critique the word of God than we are to tremble at it.

The word '…trembleth…' here means a reverential fear.  It means a respect that one carries for something that it changes the very constitution of his being.  The closest I can come to is to describe some of the things we of which false religions hold in regard.  As an altar boy, there were certain things that were off limits and we never crossed.  One such thing was the confessional booth.  Although we could peer into the center where the priest would sit, we would never ever enter.  Upon fear of immediate death and curse of hellfire, we would never venture into that which was sacred.  Another was the altar.  We would never stand behind it.  To the side, in front of, or way in the back.  But never would we stand where the priest normally stands when serving mass.  Although as Bible believers, we understand these things are not truly sacred, we understand what they mean to those who assume they are.

When it comes to the Bible, we tend to treat it with less respect than those who mistakenly treat their sacred things  as sacred.  We criticize the word of God at will.  We translate it like it is a newspaper article of no real supernatural origin.  We approach the word of God like a text book.  A source of information rather than the very voice of God.  But were we fail the most is when we read the word of God in our devotions, looking for some emotional experience to the detriment of acknowledging His word as His very voice.  When we read the word of God, we need to approach it in the same manner Moses did upon the mount.  When he heard the voice of God come from the burning bush, he fell upon his knees and would not so much as to raise his eyes upward.  If we were to approach the word of God with all the respect it deserves, it would radically change who and what we are.  The fault lies with our attitude towards God's voice - His Holy Word.