We come to the Bible as consumers, rummaging through texts to find something at a bargain. We come to worship as gourmets of the emotional, thinking that the numinous might provide a nice addition to sunsets and symphonies. We read “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day” (Psalm 91:5) and are tranquilized. We read “He does not deal with us according to our sins” (103:10) and decide we have probably been too hard on ourselves. Then we read “The LORD says…, The LORD has sworn…” and reach for the newspaper to find out how the stock market is doing.
