ומפני מה אמרה תורה ... ואמרו לפני בראש השנה מלכיות זכרונות ושופרות מלכיות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם זכרונות כדי שיעלה זכרוניכם לפני לטובה ובמה בשופר
And for what reason did the Torah say: ... And recite before Me on Rosh HaShana verses that mention Kingships, Remembrances, and Shofarot: Kingships so that you will crown Me as King over you; Remembrances so that your remembrance will rise before Me for good; and with what will the remembrance rise? It will rise with the shofar.
Orah Le-Hayyim
On Rosh Hashanah the entire world is judged. Is it worthy enough to stand? The judgement is about whether creation fulfills its purpose, that of revealing divine kingship, the awesomeness of God. Therefore: the blessed Holy One said: "...recite before me kingship verses... that you make me King over you," thus fulfilling the intent of creation. Remembrance verses so that memory of you arise before me: even if we are entirely undeserving, we remind God of the original love in which God created all the worlds. God sought to do good for Israel, not in response to their worthiness, but just out of a generous desire to bless. By reminding God of this primal love, we call forth that desire for goodness today as well, the will to shower blessing up us, even if we have no merit.
How? Through the Shofar. We arise this primal love through the means of the shofar.
This follows what I heard in the name of that holy lamp (an honorific-SK) Dov Baer, who interpreted "raise up your voice like a Shofar (Isaiah 58:1)" this way. You have to consider yourself as nothing, having no merit, having done nothing good at all. Even though you have performed some good deeds and commandments, it was really only by the power of God that you were able to do so. It was the intellect, the love, and goodness that God bestowed upon you...
You are just like a shofar, having no sound except that which someone blows through you...
In this way we awaken and draw down upon ourselves that first love. How?
Through the shofar: by considering ourselves to be a mere trumpet, having no merits that might obligate God to be good to us. It all comes from God...
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Green: The beautiful simplicity of this metaphor undercuts all the count up of sins and merits that so triviales the experience of the Day of Awe. Look at the big picture: God created and continues to create, the world out of love. When we stop trying to compete with that love and accept that we are just one echo of it, we will feel its spirit blow right through us.