When God “files” His return, I’m counting on being checked as His eternal dependent! I believe self-reliance is overrated, and the writer of Psalm 104 seems to agree. This collection of verses easily challenges the concept behind the tune, “My Way,” popularized in 1968 by Frank Sinatra. Often sung as a tribute after a person dies, the song “My Way” is about a man who reflects on the events of his life and is proud to say, “I did it my way.” In contrast, Psalm 104 describes the vast connection of everything on the earth to the influence of God.
While it may be good to be self-aware and courageous, it is even better to be God-aware and God dependent. To me, acknowledging and relying on the God who, “stretched out the heavens like a curtain,” seems like an obvious reaction, but if you don’t believe in God, it won’t make sense.
I have found an inexplicable truth becomes evident when I believe God and add “His way” to my days. Despite many difficult twists and turns in my life, when I trust in the guidance of the One who, “walks on the wings of the wind,” my soul reaches places of unbelievable joy, peace, and purpose! No human effort or distraction brings me to these places, only God does.
The Psalmist has much to say about God’s superior abilities.
Verse 1-12
“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great!….You are the one who….
makes wind His messengers and flames of fire His ministers….
laid the foundation of the earth that it should not be moved….
covered the earth with waters….
set a boundary which the waters may not pass over….
sends springs and gives drink to every wild beast of the field….
beside them birds have their nests….”
Verse 13-23
“He waters the mountains from His upper rooms….
He causes vegetation to grow for the cattle and all that the earth produces for man to cultivate….
The Lord appoints the moon for the seasons; the sun knows the exact time of its setting….
He makes darkness and it becomes night in which creeps forth every wild beast of the forest….
Lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God. When the sun arises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.”
In light of all these events, none of which man can even remotely instigate, the Psalmist interrupts his own listing of God’s marvels with an insightful declaration.
Verse 24-31
“O Lord, how many and varied are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures….
These all wait and are dependent upon You, that You may give them their food in due season.
When You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, and they are filled with good things.
When You hide Your face, they are troubled and dismayed; when You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When You send forth Your Spirit and give them breath, they are created, and You replenish the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works—(the same Lord who looks on the earth and it quakes and trembles, Who touches the mountains, and they smoke!)”
So, take your pick. You can sing with Frank and be proud of “your way” or bow the knee and become dependent on God’s way.
For me, the category of being dependent has the most advantages- including a big return!
“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” Matthew 5:3
My Prayer
God, how silly to think that anything I do solely “my way” will stand the test of Your time. To not trust You is to act like a little child who sees only the wonder of a playground and has no understanding of the Disneyland theme park just down the street. We think we know, yet we know nothing. We imagine, and nothing we dream compares to the real “imaginings” of You! Help us leap at the chance to be dependent on you, and recoil from the pressure to do things “our way!” Amen