Commit thy way unto Jehovah, and rely upon him he will bring [it] to pass;
Psalm 37 speaks to people surrounded by wrongdoers who get away with it, and verse 5 answers that pressure. What does it mean to hand your way over to God, and what does He then "bring to pass"?
The setting: God's government, not yet on public display
The psalm looks ahead to a day when God sets everything right in public. But it speaks to the long wait before that day.
Psalm 37 is closely tied to the way God rules this world directly. That rule will be proved true when the meek inherit the land and the wicked are cut off. The time for God to display that rule in public has not come. Evil will no doubt press harder just before He puts it down. Until then it is still the time of patience, and the evil is there.
Rolling a weight, not carrying it
Some Bibles print another wording in the margin: "roll." That picture turns the command into relief, not one more duty.
"Commit your way to the Lord," or, as the margin has it, "Roll your way upon the Lord." How often our circumstances are so puzzling and hard that our way seems blocked and impossible. Sometimes people misjudge us, crush us, even persecute us. What can we do? We can roll the responsibility of our way upon the Lord, and rely on Him. There is immense relief in this. He takes the load off our weak shoulders and puts it on His strong ones.
One writer saw the same picture in a weight too heavy to lift.
Sometimes the load of care seems too heavy to cast it anywhere. Then the Lord invites us to "roll your way upon the Lord" (Ps. 37:5, margin). As children in Canada, we made great snowballs in the winter. When they got too heavy to lift, we could still roll them. So roll that great load of care on Him, "because it is a matter of care to Him, concerning you," as the original Greek puts it.
Third in a series
The verse does not stand alone. It comes after two earlier commands, and that order is deliberate.
Committing our way to the Lord assumes, of course, that we are in the middle of trouble and testing from our enemies. Let us remember that it is not the first instruction, nor the second, but the third. It takes for granted that we are trusting in the Lord and finding our delight in Him. Then, and only then, will we be ready to roll our way upon Him and know that, as a happy result, "He will bring it to pass."
Read across the whole paragraph, these commands form one continuous answer to the temptation the psalm describes.
(vv. 3-11) Faith in the Lord is the way of escape from this snare. So the word to the godly soul is: "Trust in the Lord"; "Delight yourself in the Lord"; "Commit your way to the Lord"; "Be still before the Lord"; and "wait patiently for Him."
Trust does not stop at the handover
Committing is a single act. The trusting that follows is daily, and the verse joins the two.
In daily life we need this, because each day brings its own needs. Only the Lord can guide us well, so that we do not take a wrong step. Once we commit our way to Him, He expects full confidence in His leading. We are not to be afraid. We trust Him for every step, with the sure assurance of faith.
What He brings to pass
The outcome is that God makes your righteousness plain for all to see. That is His to give, and He is never rushed.
"Commit your way to the Lord." How true this is! He always has, as people say, the last word, if only we have the faith to wait for it. He will bring about the result the righteous heart desires, and make its righteousness clear.
Job shows what this looks like — and warns about the delay we create ourselves. (Job was the man who lost everything and was then accused by his own friends of deserving it.)
When his friends slandered Job, he felt it deeply. For a long time he fought for his own reputation instead of committing his way to the Lord. When he finally did this, God soon brought forth his righteousness as the light and his justice as the noonday.
Why some find it hard
The same command feels different to different people. The difference is not in their circumstances.
The instruction "Roll your way upon the Lord" is a hard saying where godliness is at a low ebb. Where it is a full-flowing tide it is easy, and a delightful relief.
Summary
- Setting — The psalm speaks to the time before God puts evil down. Until then it is "the time of patience, and the evil is there."
- Sequence — Committing is the third instruction, not the first. It assumes you are already trusting and already delighting in Him.
- Roll — The word pictures a load too heavy to lift. You roll it off your shoulders onto His.
- Then keep trusting — The handover is one act; the confidence for every following step is daily.
- He acts — In His own time He clears your name. He always has the last word, if you have the faith to wait for it.