Psalm 55:22 tells us in part: “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you”. The New Testament version of that passage is found in I Peter 5:7 which states: “casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you”. Our friend, Robert J. Morgan, in his book One Hundred Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart shares the following with regard to this wonderful verse of Scripture I Peter 5:7. Here is Morgan’s account:

This [I Peter 5:7] is the New Testament version of Psalm 55:22, and it’s easy to memorize if we absorb one word or phrase at a time.

  • Cast. This word means “to throw, to remove something from one place to another.” Where is your concern right now? Where is your worry? When you cast it on him, you are removing it from your own heart and tossing it onto His. The Greek word used here only occurs one other time in the New Testament, in the story of the triumphal entry. Our Lord’s disciples took their cloaks and threw them on [i.e., cast them on] the donkey as a saddle for the Lord Jesus.
  • All. I’ll never forget the night when, deeply worried, I saw this word “all.” It struck me like an anvil. There are no exemptions, exceptions, or exclusions.
  • Your. This is personal, for you. It means the unique set of circumstances that is troubling you at this moment.
  • Cares. The Greek word means “worries and anxieties.” This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have healthy concern about things or give them prayerful thought. This is talking about the unhealthy, crippling, dysfunctional anxiety that can tear us down like a building being demolished.
  • On Him. “Him” is God. We are to humble ourselves before Him, saying, “Lord, I have got a problem I can’t handle, but You can. I am leaning on Your grace” [see, I Peter 5:5-6].
  • Because He cares about you. This is the declaration on which the command is given. The command is that we cast our cares on Him. The basis of it is this: God really does care for us.

How do we CAST?

  • C = Commit yourself and your situation into the Lord’s hands. He is our all in all. He is all-sufficient for all needs and in all circumstances. All our burdens were nailed to His cross, and all our cares disappeared into the mouth of His vacant tomb.
  • A = Ask God for his wisdom, strength, and guidance. Learn to make things a matter of prayer instead of a bird’s nest of anxious care.
  • S = Surrender your situation to God’s will. Give Him permission to resolve it whenever and however seems best to Him, according to His wisdom.
  • T = Trust Him. Begin acting as if all these things were going to work together for good. Adopt an attitude of hope and rest in the assurance that He reigns.

Morgan ends this chapter with the following quote from Paul Gerhardt:

Commit whatever grieves thee
Into the gracious hands
Of Him who never leaves thee,
Who heav’n and earth commands,
Who points the clouds their courses,
Whom winds and waves obey,
He will direct thy footsteps
And find for thee a way.

We have no idea what burdens many of you may be carrying at this moment. We do know that for as long as we live there are going to be struggles, problems, burdens, and issues that we will all have to deal with as we go through our days in this earthly pilgrimage. How wonderful to know that the eternal, sovereign, loving, never-changing God so cares for each one of us that He entreats us to cast those burdens on Him, the One who can not only bear them, but the One who will ultimately resolve each one of them for His glory and for our good (Romans 8:28). May these truths from God’s word bring a measure of comfort to your soul this day. Soli Deo Gloria!

Love,

John & Terri
I Peter 5:7