Trembling At His Word

The last chapter of Isaiah begins like this:

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

In these verses, the prophet proclaims that the Lord who is sovereign over all of creation says that what He values the most--the one to whom He will turn His gaze--is the one who is poor and has a contrite spirit and trembles at His word.

I have been thinking about that last line all day. And as I have thought about it, I have been asking myself, "Is this true of me? Do I tremble at His Word?" Do I even want to?

I recently heard Francis Chan say something related to this as he was recounting something one of his seminary professors had said to his class. It was a warning. A warning that the great danger of seminary is that the student can get into the habit of hearing and knowing the Word of God, but not doing anything about it. That can easily happen in a church as well. It can happen to me. It can happen to you.

Imagine for a moment what it must have been like to be one of the disciples who accompanies Jesus onto the Mount of Transfiguration. What that experience must have been like! To see what they saw, a glimpse of Jesus glory, Unmasked. Unshrouded. And then this voice comes from heaven: "This is My Son. Listen to Him." I would have been trembling at His word then, that's for sure!

So why don't I tremble at the reading of God's Word? Why does it not regularly result in an obedient response from me, the appropriate response of a poor and contrite heart that recognizes itself as such? I am good with Bible study, but how about Bible obedience?

Could it be that I have formed a habit of hearing and even knowing the Word, but not doing anything about it? This is a question I need to meditate upon on a regular basis with a sense of my own poverty and a contrite spirit.