Rashi points out that when God considered creating man he consulted with the heavenly angels first: "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness." Although God ultimately made Adam by Himself, and presumably did not really need the Angels' advice or assistance, He first consulted with them in order to teach us how to behave. Here we see that proper behavior is predicated on humility, and the humility of a creator -- whether he is the creator of a family, an institution, a community or a world -- naturally will be expressed by consultation.
I don't believe this verse is testifying to some great Cosmic Game, some fictional choreographed bowing and gesticulating. God meant it.
In fact, He meant it so much that -- as the Alter of Slobodka taught -- He was willing to include a verse in the Torah which might accidentally lead people to the mistake of polytheism. It seems that misunderstanding the character of God would be worse than to make the mistake of believing that He is a plurality!
As great as the human species is, we are all completely incapable of comprehending God's essence. The most that we can know of Him is that which he reveals to us in his behavior towards us. The ultimate theology would produce as its crowning glory a profound knowledge of His revealed character, a character that we are expected -- commanded! -- to emulate.
A Torah that would permit us to believe that God lacks humility would be fundamentally flawed. Instead of revealing the greatness of our Creator, it would mislead us towards arrogance. Instead of instructing us how enlist our friends and neighbors in our most idealistic projects, it would cause us to alienate those around us.
Fortunately our Torah is divine, and it reveals the divine in the universe and helps us to discover the divine in ourselves. And in that place, together with our most glorious power, dwells the humility to consult with those below us as well as those above.
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