I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 136-142.

    Every time I read Psalm 136 I imagine it being read as a responsive reading, but not the way we generally do congregational responsive readings. Instead, I hear in my head both parts being said enthusiastically. I run through several different iterations of how it could be done to make it a powerful form of worship. One iteration is both parts being said loudly throughout. Another iteration is with the lead part spoken at a constant volume while the response gets louder and more enthusiastic as the reading goes on. I debate in my head if the lead should be a single person or a group, and if a group, should it be a small group, or one the same size as the responding group? Or perhaps the congregation should read the lead with the response being read by an individual. I think we miss a lot by not doing more responsive readings as part of our worship services.

    God has searched us through and through. He knows our motivations, even those we hide from ourselves. There is no place we can go and nothing we can do that He does not see. He has seen everything we have experienced and understands the influence those things have had on our lives. It was God who created our inmost being. He began the process of forming us into who we are when we were a fertilized egg in our mother’s womb. There are two sides to this. On one hand, we can not hide anything from God. There is no place we can be hidden from Him, where our actions are not known to God. On the other hand, there is no place that we can be in danger or threatened where God does not see what is happening. No matter where we are, God will know the instant we need Him and come to our aid.
    Not only can God see everything we do and have done, not only can He come to our rescue no matter where, or by whom, we are threatened, He understands the things which have shaped us. He knows, even better than we do, how the events of our childhood have shaped our personalities and influenced the decisions we make. God uses that knowledge and understanding to offer us a plan to overcome our weaknesses and failure. We just need to be willing to follow the course which He has shown us, a course which He has brightly lit with the light of His Word.