There is something about Frank Sinatra’s hit song “My Way” that resonates with human nature. But belt it out any way you like and the words will still fall flat. The message is a dud. Even Sinatra, according to his daughter, came to hate the song.
Here are a few of the lyrics:
“For what is a man, what has he got, if not himself, then he has not. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels. The record shows, I took the blows, and did it my way.”
A verse of scripture comes to my mind:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”. (Prov. 16:25)
Allow me to suggest a song that sings of the “everlasting way.”
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret,..Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”
Ironically, the composer of the 139th Psalm focusses the song on himself! Yet he concludes the composition with a plea for God to lead him in the “everlasting way.”
The everlasting way offers wonderful newness of life and life everlasting to all who believe. Godly living is available to “whosoever will” partake. Jesus said many times, “He who has ears, let him hear!” Hope is available to anyone who will lend Him an ear!
The everlasting way is broadly offered to everyone, yet there will come a time when we are to move beyond those precious commonalities to discover our own novel part. Each of us has been singularly gifted by God. And each of us will be presented with unique opportunities that have been divinely appointed to us. When we show up in those particular places, and do those things that no other can effectually, efficiently do, our soul’s created purpose is brought into view.
It’s what we were born for.
So, in conclusion, Psalm 139 could also be titled “My Way.” But unlike Sinatra’s ballad, its message hits all the right notes.
“But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” (Dan 12:13)
