And so the Psalm oscillates between a confident approach and a doubting retreat. This shows itself in a kind of liturgical stammer, a conflicted hesitation that is not readily resolved.

If we are honest with ourselves, we often find ourselves in a similar position of hesitation as we enter into worship, though the reasons may be different. It is not likely that we have had to endure the overt taunts of scoffers. But we continually encounter the strident claims of a host of authorities that court our attention and our allegiance. We become confused as we face situations in which the obedient response is not always clear. And we are sometimes properly daunted by our unworthiness to approach the living God and awed by his glory and holiness.

The impulse for this reading is not unlike that of Calvin’s Strassburg liturgy which places the Confession at the beginning of the service: “Let each of you truly acknowledge that he is a sinner, humbling himself before God, and believing that the Heavenly Father wills to be gracious unto him in Jesus Christ.”