How to be Released from the Burden You’re Carrying [Friday Devotionals with Terra] – Episode 472

I Peter 5:6-7 Holman Christian Standard Bible

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,[e] 7 casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.

Psalm 46:10 ESV

“Be still, and know that I am God.

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth!”

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Link to the Commentaries – https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_peter/5-7.htm

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

“Cast all you care; personal cares, family cares, cares for the present, and cares for the future, for yourselves, for others, for the church, on God. These are burdensome, and often very sinful, when they arise from unbelief and distrust, when they torture and distract the mind, unfit us for duties, and hinder our delight in the service of God.“  

Barne’s notes on the Bible

Casting all your care upon him – Compare Psalm 55:22, from whence this passage was probably taken. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Compare, for a similar sentiment, Matthew 6:25-30. The meaning is, that we are to commit our whole cause to him. If we suffer heavy trials; if we lose our friends, health, or property; if we have arduous and responsible duties to perform; if we feel that we have no strength, and are in danger of being crushed by what is laid upon us, we may go and cast all upon the Lord; that is, we may look to him for grace and strength, and feel assured that he will enable us to sustain all that is laid upon us. The relief in the case will be as real, and as full of consolation, as if he took the burden and bore it himself. He will enable us to bear with ease what we supposed we could never have done; and the burden which he lays upon us will be light, Matthew 11:30. Compare the notes at Philippians 4:6-7.

Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges

7. casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you] The English version effaces a distinction in the Greek, the first word for “care” implying “distracting anxiety,” as in Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19; Luke 8:14; Luke 21:34, the latter conveying the idea simply of the care that foresees and provides, as in Mark 4:38; John 10:13; John 12:6. The thought expressed is accordingly that our anxiety is to be swallowed up in our trust in the loving Providence of the Father. Here again we have a quotation somewhat altered from the LXX. version (Psalm 55:22), “Cast thy care upon the Lord and he shall nourish thee,” and in the warning against anxiety we may find an echo of the precepts against “taking thought” (where the Greek verb is formed from the same noun) in Matthew 6:25-34.

Pulpit Commentary 

Verse 7. – Casting all your care upon him; rather, all your anxiety μέριμνα. St. Peter is quoting, with slight alterations, the Septuagint Version of Psalm 55:22. We cast our anxiety upon God when we fulfill the Lord’s commandment, “Take no thought [rather, ‘be not anxious’], saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” God cares for us; therefore we must not be over-anxious, but trust in him. 

• ✦ The participle is aorist, as if implying that we are to cast the whole burden of all our anxieties πᾶσαν τὴν μέριμναν ὑμῶν by one act of faith upon the Lord. 

For he careth for you. 

• ✦ The Greek word is μέλει, quite different from the μέριμνα of the foregoing clause. The care which is forbidden is that anxiety about worldly things which harasses a man and distracts his mind, so that he cannot compose himself to prayer and holy meditation. God’s care for us is calm, holy, thoughtful providence. He “knoweth that we have need of all these things;” and he maketh all things work together for good to his chosen, to them that love him. 1 Peter 5:7
  
  
  

Vincent’s Word Studies

Casting (ἐπιῤῥίψαντες)

The aorist participle denoting an act once for all; throwing the whole life with its care on him.

All your care (πᾶσαν τήν μέριμναν)

The whole of your care. “Not every anxiety as it arises, for none will arise if this transferrence has been effectually made.” Care. See on Matthew 6:25, take no thought. Rev., rightly, anxiety.

He careth (μέλει)

Meaning the watchful care of interest and affection. The sixth and seventh verses should be taken together: Humble yourselves and cast all your anxiety. Pride is at the root of most of our anxiety. To human pride it is humiliating to cast everything upon another and be cared for. See James 4:6, James 4:7.

Additional tools: Here is a link to the Bible Project video on I Peter. It explains in just a few minutes all about what was happening at the time the letter we call I Peter was written. You can check it out here: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/1-peter/