Dependence

For the reasons stated above, our path necessarily must be one of absolute dependence upon the Lord Jesus. In the days of His flesh, He voluntarily took this place. He was truly God; all fullness was pleased to dwell in Him. But we are told that He, being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, took upon Him the form of a servant, and became obedient, etc. We could not take upon ourselves the form of a servant, for we are servants and never were anything else. In this way the blessed Lord trod the path of faith perfectly, and has left us an example that we should follow His steps. Hence we are told that "when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.”
So it is in Psa. 16, the first words are, "Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust." How wondrous is the love and lowliness that could take the place of such entire dependence! Surely when hungry for forty days and nights He could have commanded bread to be brought forth, and it could not possibly be withheld, but He chose this place of dependence and replied, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Again on another occasion when men were seeking to swallow Him up in their cruel hatred, could He not have prayed to His Father and He would presently have given Him more than twelve legions of angels (Matt. 26:53)? Most assuredly He could. But He chose rather the path of dependence and obedience as Jehovah's servant, and in this He has left a perfect example for us to follow.
I gather, therefore, from this psalm that a life of absolute and constant dependence will characterize those who follow Christ. As the Apostle Paul forcibly puts it, "Having nothing, and yet possessing all things," having no resources in self, no stock in hand, but unceasing and thorough dependence on Him for all our help. I do not doubt that the true effect of entering into our perfect standing and full character of blessing in Christ will be to seek to bring the power of all that into this present scene, as alone suited to Him whom having not seen we love.
It is comparatively easy and natural to make God our refuge in great emergencies, but to trust in Him at all times as the constant habit of our lives in all the details is another thing. We must look to Him about every matter, whether rough or smooth, painful or pleasant, and go forth day by day watching His hand, obeying His voice, leaning on His arm, associating the almightiness of His power. The infiniteness of His wisdom, and perfectness of His love with all our affairs, great or small, at home or abroad, things spiritual or temporal, must mark the character of those who thus live in dependence on God.
So perfectly and unceasingly was this path of dependence trodden by the Son of God that we hear Him saying, "I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.... Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak." John 12:49, 50. So here we see the perfectness of the blessed Lord in thus depending on the Father for every word He should speak.
He sought out a solitary place in the wilderness for prayer, getting up a great while before day and going out into a desert place to pray, spending a whole night in prayer. Being usually engaged in prayer before any great event, such as choosing His apostles, the transfiguration, etc., all show the reality of the life of dependence which this perfect One lived. From all this and other scriptures, we learn how faith, prayer, and thanksgiving must accompany our exercise of real dependence upon God.