Trembling

Is it wrong to admit a physical reaction to spiritual reality? I hope not. Contemporary Christianity seems bent on removing mystery from devotion, but it may be easier to tame the wind than keep our hearts in check when overwhelmed by grace. Though modern sensibilities may resist it, trembling depicts an essential movement of the heart before God. One need look no farther than the Psalms to find individuals whose Godward reaction is physical and audible. The Psalmists groan, cry, moan, laugh, long, desire, despise, dance, and shout; authentic and spontaneous, the Psalms disclose the sinner’s honest response to the overwhelming majesty of God. If we would understand their songs and allow them to nurture our inner life, we too must learn to tremble before our Creator; sadly, the physical and emotional experience of awe is largely absent from what we smugly term "worship" today. Desensitized by our own living, we are too numb to recognize the Holy. Our pace of life and even the noise in church can drown out a thunderous divine voice. Joining the masses of popular culture who see at best a God who is distant and unlikely to be encountered in the “real world", many run aground on social sand bars, rejecting any sense of awe because they are persuaded that it simply isn't sophisticated to allow religion to touch them very deeply or, Heaven forbid, visibly.

Physical trembling is not our main concern, of course, but I hesitate to put us at ease too quickly, for it seems odd that while all creation shudders before the power and purity of the Exalted One, we should proceed routinely, wholly untouched by His Presence. From Belshazzar’s knees clattering together, through Quaker and Puritan revivals, and on up to modern times, many have had a physical response to the reality of God. The mind, body, psyche, and spirit are woven together so tightly that we should expect to be affected as whole persons when we sincerely encounter God. The Hebrew words most often used for “fear” in the Old Testament depict God as one who elicits ultimate respect. Fearing God in the Psalms does not primarily mean quivering in anxiety and terror, but instead describes a profound sense of reverence. The heart of this experience of trembling is acknowledging the superiority of God over against ourselves. God is the Wholly Other; to encounter this Holy One leaves us awestruck. We may respond with tears or praise or with great waves of laughter and joy, rolling out of every corner of our beings, or the awe may strike us silent. Call it what you will, I call it trembling.

“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 114:7)

“This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  (Isaiah. 66:2)

"Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." (Psalm 42:7, NIV)

How dread are Thine eternal years,

    O everlasting Lord!

By prostrate spirits day and night

     Incessantly adored!

How beautiful, how beautiful

     The sight of Thee must be,

Thine endless wisdom, boundless power,

     And awful purity!

Oh how I fear Thee, living God!

     With deepest, tenderest fears,

And worship Thee with trembling hope,

     And penitential tears.

(Frederick W. Faber)