The Call to Worship reflects two Psalms, portions of Psalm 34 and Psalm 111. They serve as a background for understanding why we worship. What do you take away from worship? How do you experience a new understanding of your relationship with God in this act of worship?

A colleague told me he asked church members what they took away from worship? He related their answers were generalities like be kind to others or treat people with respect. He reflected that he would hear those same responses from anyone on the street. If we’ve been attending worship for 50-60 years it was surprising that what they’d gleaned from worship was no different than the general population.

The passage in Psalm 34 begins with a surprising invitation, “Fear the Lord, Holy Ones, for those who fear God have no want.” The Psalm continues, “I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 111 ends with, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, all those who practice it have a good understanding.” Perhaps the word “fear” used in our call to worship has a different DNA.

Psalm 34 helps us see underneath the veil of fear. In verses 4 & 6 the Psalmist writes, “I sought the Lord and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears… I was saved from every trouble.” The word “fear” used in verse 4 describes the gripping, suffocating way that we often experience fear.

But continue in verse 9: “Fear the Lord, you holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.” This is the opposite of our everyday human fears. What gives? The Hebrew word for fear has a different meaning in verse 4, “delivered me from all my fears” than the Hebrew words used for “fear the Lord” in verse 9. We can be delivered from the fears that plague our thoughts as we come to understand what it means to “fear the Lord.”

This word for “fear the Lord” connotes holy awe or respect. This is worship. The Psalmist continues, “Those who respect the Lord have no want.” Which fear do you think has the upper hand in driving your thoughts, actions, and behaviour much of the time? When you are here in worship, what occupies your mind? Are you thinking about all your troubles or are you seeking a deeper relationship with God?

Why can’t we grasp the difference between our human fears and the mysterious “fear of God?” I do sometimes fear God’s judgement but that is not what “fear of the Lord” means in the Psalms.

What if we tried words more reflective of the different meanings of fear used in this passage. We might say, “Worship the Lord, for those who revere the Lord lack nothing. I will teach you how to worship. Come my children listen to me I will teach you respect and awe of the Lord. Turn from evil and do good. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of learning how to worship: to respect, awe, and cultivate a new depth of trust in God.”

The root of the Hebrew word yirah has two core meanings—fear and awe. Working to harmonize these two possible meanings, Professor Bernard Steinberg writes, “‘Awe is what happens to fear when it stops being about me.’ When I fear God, in other words, I think about God’s might and the ways it could impact me, but when I hold God in awe, I think only of God’s might; thoughts of how it could affect me simply fall away. Fear becomes awe, then, when I forget about myself and focus only on God,” (The Heart of Torah.) How do we place ourselves on this path that leads to holy wisdom? The two passages we read today from Proverbs and Ephesians provide a distinct path to fear and awe the Lord. We can choose to move toward respect and awe of the Lord and cultivate a new depth of trust in God.

Proverbs is the book of wisdom. The first 9 chapters of Proverbs set the stage toward an understanding of wisdom, not as knowledge to be gained but instead as learning from the common experiences of human life in relationship with God.

In Proverbs 9, “Lady Wisdom” invites us to choose the path of wisdom. “Walk in the way of insight,” she calls. “Lay aside immaturity,” she beckons, “All are invited.” Lady Wisdom is as hospitable to the poor and simple as to the rich and cultured. The problem is not so much knowing what we need to do but rather choosing to do it.

This banquet motif in Proverbs 9 reflects a formative process that nourishes us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Eating bread and drinking wine sounds a bit like communion. Wisdom offers God’s instructions that are not rules to follow but a relationship to cultivate.

The Ephesians passage continues the choice that we have to live as wise people. The thrust of this passage is to put us where wisdom is; to court the experience of the Spirit through abstention of what dulls the spirit. Paul writes, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” This comment seems out of context but now I see a deeper understanding. Being drunk with wine implies a quick fix, a quick way toward happiness, a quick way to delude our fears. It implies choices that do not consider a deeper relationship with God. How do we worship to cultivate respect, awe, and a deeper trust in God?

What is this way of understanding worship as a part of spiritual formation? Spiritual formation is something God initiates and does in us. Paul uses an example of singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody to the Lord in our hearts. The songs we sing give voice to our intentions to follow Christ.

Paul offers another path of Wisdom and insight. “Always give thanks to God for everything.” The opportunity for gratitude gets us out of ourselves and our focus on our fears and struggles. Earlier we said that “awe is what happens to fear when it stops being about me.” Gratitude is the path we choose to move us out of ourselves toward cultivating that right relationship with God.

The path is our choice. We have an opportunity to not choose the fear of the world around us and instead to dwell in a holy awe and respect for God. How do we worship God with our life?