“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
Casting
This verse is a quote from Psalm 55:22.
First Peter 5:7 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible, yet we often take this verse out of its context. Note that the word “casting” is a participle making it dependent upon the previous statement in verse six. “Casting” is not a command but the means of how we humble ourselves (1 Pe 5:6). We humble ourselves by casting our anxieties on God. God’s care comes when we humble ourselves and depend on His grace.
“Casting” means to throw upon and thus to deposit with. Secular Greek used “casting” for a man who carried a heavy burden and threw it upon a camel’s back. “Casting” carries the idea of throw or to roll upon. God wants us to roll our burdens upon Him. God wants us to have a target to which we direct our anxiety. That target is God Himself.
The New Testament uses “casting” only two times, here and Luke 19:35:
“Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.”
We cannot separate God’s care from His sovereign plan for us. God’s plan for Asia Minor Christians was suffering. They needed to humble themselves to God’s plan for that suffering and His grace to provide for them in suffering.
PRINCIPLE:
We are humble when we depend on God’s grace for our lives.
PRINCIPLE:
God does not design the situations of our lives to break us but to make us. We are to move from trusting our own resources and strategies for life to rest in God and His provisions. God is willing and able to carry the heaviest burden for us.
Stop, take a breath, and relax in God’s grace when you are under pressure from worry.
“Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah” (Psalm 68:19).
I have been inspired after reading these words of encouragement. Thank you.
Thanks for the blessing Martha.
We are created by God to be dependent on Him. I can cast my cares on Him because He cares for me. Amen
thank you for making me see this verse in another way.because according to vs6 it is when we humble,after we humble,then he performs and we will see results,not in our time but in (due time.)and its like it is continuing the sentence;one of the ways ways we can do verse 6,which is to humble is by casting all our cares upon him.
Thank you for the light you shared on these verses and do pray for me that i will humble my self to God,especially by allowing him to take care of me,indeed true humility is allowing someone to do for you what you obviously cannot do for yourself.eg if you had always done things yourself,n suddendly you get cripple or for some reason you can’t it would take alot to allowing someone else to do all for you,but you have to cause you can’t on your own.
Never couched in symbolic language, the cookies are always on the bottom shelf so they can be reached by anyone!
I will visit this site again. This was my first stop here and I think it looks very good
I am blessed and now have the solution to what I was going through… uor God is good for sure.
thanks
What an inspiring exposition. The word of God is new everyday, it is alive and active. I have just experienced it.
Is it speaking a curse to someone or into their life when you tell them to be careful or to take care? (I.e., when hanging up at the end of a phone conversation to say “take care” or seeing someone off for travel to say “be careful.”)
Renee, the word “care” does not connote the meaning you give it here. The Greek word means “anxiety.” That is, we are to cast our anxiety upon God because He sovereignly cares for us. The second “care” is a different Greek word meaning that God takes care of our welfare and protection.
Renee, I skipped the word “not” but it is now included.
I have been a christian for more than 30 yrs yet lately I awake in the night with worries. Reading this is something I must read over an over. Its so amazingHow much the Lord loves us
That word “cast” in 1 Peter 5:7 bothers me and I try to make myself have the right attitude about God and the Bible, but honestly I feel the way I feel. To cast means to throw. To look at it from a physical standpoint, it is possible for a person to have such a heavy weight on them that they are unable to move it. Think, a person trapped under a beam when the building they’re in collapses. How is it fair to expect that person to hand the beam over to the rescue worker when it is pressing them down! That person needs someone to “lift” it off of them. Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this and maybe it’s just semantics, but the word cast is what is used…I didn’t write it. Maybe my burden in life has weighed and worn me down to the point that if God doesn’t use His omnipotent strength to take it, I’ll just have to perish. If someone truly has an answer please inform me, but I really don’t expect much!
George,
Thanks for your blog. There are a couple points that you need to consider. First, the “cast” is a participle (“casting”) and is drawn from verse 6. The point of verse six is that we humble ourselves. We humble ourselves by “casting.” Humility in this case is trusting the providence of God in our lives. The important point of this passage is not the casting but understanding the main point of the verse.
Secondly, the main point of the passage rests on the phrase “for He cares for you.” The word “for” should be translated because. “Because” gives us the reason for our casting. The reason that we “cast” is that God providentially cares for us. The casting is only the means of coming to understand the providence of God. Therefore, humility requires that we cast our anxieties on God who providently cares for us. The ultimate issue is our understanding of the sovereignty of God. Is He sovereign or not? We can rest in whatever problem/s we face that God is in control.
Make sure that you advance to 5:7b and the further studies on this verse.
Just think about this little old lady that didn’t go to the town’s bomb shelter on a day when the siren gave the warning. Once everything was over, a man went to her house to look for her. He found her doing quite well. Right away , he asked her “why didn’t you come wihen you heard the siren?” She said, ” God doesn’t sleep nor slumber “, so I went to sleep. She cast that fear upon God. God surely wants us to depend on him. Also, he gives us the keys of the kingdom to bind ant to loose, his words that will not return void, Jesus and thousand more weapons to destroy the worries. Worries , doubt , fear are not apart of God’s plans. I had to cast my anxieties on God and leave them. These anxieties made me sick, angry and lost of sleep. Thank you for this teaching. God watches over his words. If everyone would look at the sky, moon, sun and yourself from head to toe. Just praise God for his goodness, mercy and grace. What a mighty God we serve! Rember to cast all burdens upon the Lord. Don’t receive anyone’s burdens. Pray for them and cast them on God .
Nice explanation about this text thanks and Godbless
Thanks Robinson. Did you go to all the studies on this verse? If you did not then just click 1 Peter 5:7b and succeeding studies.
On George’s comment: Even if a house collapses on someone the person is not expected to cast it on the Lord. If he can then he has solved the problem himself. It is the worry about the burden and it’s solution that should be thrown or cast on Jesus the Lord.
Thank you so much. I will use your ideas in our morning devotions at church
shepherd, I am blessed.
Thank you, Jude! I had never thought of it this way, but that does make good sense to me. This is the fresh perspective i was looking for. Thanks and God bless you!!
thank you for your exposition on these verses I really learn so much from it, this is actually one of my life verse and I am so blessed reading it, I plan to use this for my devotion for my church if it’s ok with you. thank you
bj, I am blessed that you would use my commentary. Note that there are a number of studies on 1 Pe 5:7.
Humble – Cast – Anxiety – Devil – Roaring Lion – Devour – Adversary.
Growing up in and 60 years of African experience I have been in many experiences of the “to close and personal” kind with the African Lion. Night and day crouching, seeking, roaring, devour.
Cast – “hand over, place upon, throw”
10 percent of “anxiety” at a time. Not 1000 pounds, not 100, no! Start with just ten pounds
Imagine Jesus sitting next to you and He says, “just give me 10 percent today, now. Imagine you taking the weight of 10 pounds from your shoulders and handing it over onto His shoulders. In your mind imagine doing that. Just do it!
Thank Him
Feel the lighter load.
Breathe
Male lion can easily weight 350 pounds of muscle and teeth. Devil so much more!
So, using the mind that God gives us to imagine handing over your burden of 10 pounds then incrementally more.
Every counseling client with whom I have guided through this process has said….”I am beginning to feel …..better!”
God bless all of us who have various degrees of anxiety.
In Jesus Name
Amen
Dr. John.