The covenantal ligurgy of hearing and answering is evident already in creation. Every creature knows itself as the being that the Great King has worded it to be. God prepares a place by speaking, “Let there be!” and even the “response” of inanimate creation can be correlated metaphorically with this antiphonal (speaking and response) liturgy of the covenant (Ps 19,1-4). Yet it is only humans who, as God’s royal image bearers, reply with specific intentionality and in fulfillment of their specific commission – “Here I am”, a recurring Hebrew idiom. The differences between “Here I am” and “I see” are obvious. In the one, I place myself at the disposal of the covenant Lord, submitting to his Word; in the other, I am in possession. In the “Here I am” of the covenant servant, one is no longer a detached spectator of the moap, but is placed on the map…
Michael Horton. The Christian Faith. Zondervan: Grand Rapids 2011. (85)
