The saddest verse in the Bible?

We all have our favourite verses in the Bible. I bet you could quote yours straight away. But do we stop to think what hits us as the saddest verse? Each year, when in Exodus, I can't help lamenting when I get to Exodus 20 verse 19.

Moses has his first mountaintop experiences and the people are called to gather to share in it, at least in part. Back in chapter 19 they were to prepare and then approach to a certain limit, keeping a respectful distance because God was going to come down among them. It was a quite a deal, with thunder, lightning and trembling!

Moses gets to enter, the rest stay back. Later Aaron is called up too. We then get the ten commandments spelt out, before returning to the thunder and lightning scenes (at 20:18). The people are now trembling with fear. Sensibly they stay at a distance, but then they say to Moses 'Speak to us yourself ... do not let God speak to us or we will die'.

How sad is that? The caution is sensible, a sense of 'holy' fear is appropriate, but to be so fearful that you shrink back from having God speak to you seems to me to be a great sadness. I am convinced it is not what God wanted, even with the limitations of the unholy approaching a holy God.

Surely God wants to call us out and speak with us direct, as in the Genesis garden scene (even after the fall) and so many times since. For the whole people to be a prophetic nation, wouldn't it be better for them all to learn to listen to His voice and go with His directives?

To be a prophetic people today in contemporary society, we too must rise above the wrong kind of fear and be pleased to hear His voice directly, knowing and declaring His voice ... and encouraging others that they too can be included in the same privilege.