having cast all your care upon him, for he cares about you.
Commento di questo versetto
The Setting
Peter writes to scattered, suffering believers and, having pressed humility "under the mighty hand of God" (v.6), turns the same hand into a pillow. The verse is both an invitation and a proof — we cast because He cares, not the other way around.
The Mighty Hand That Trains
The verse cannot be torn from verse 6. The hand that humbles is the hand that holds.
F. B. HoleThe mighty hand of God is upon His people in the way of training, and often in very painful dealings, as was the case in the persecutions of these early Christians, yet under it we are to bow and in due time we shall be exalted. Meanwhile, we are to cast all the cares, which this painful state of things might produce, upon Him in the full assurance that He cares for us.
"Casting All" — Nothing Held Back
The word "all" is absolute. Every kind of pressure — bodily, family, business, spiritual — is in scope.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAll means all — all cares, whatever they are; all burdens, all anxieties we can roll upon Him, with the perfect assurance that He does care. Alas! our anxieties, our heavy feelings, our worry and our hurry, all speak the same language of unbelief. "Lord, dost Thou not care?" Well, it is if we look upon all burdens He permits to be laid upon us, as tokens of His love, by which we may learn His faithfulness afresh. Instead of murmuring then, we should sing and rejoice, being anxious for nothing, knowing He carries us and our burdens and cares as we can never do.
The same writer applies the verse to the actual ground of daily life:
F. A. HughesHow very many of the Lord's people have experienced the precious import of them in times of sickness, bereavement, and pressures of varying kinds and extent. Those sleepless nights of pain; days of concern for loved ones; the disappointments of youth; the trials and weakness of advancing years; family problems; business setbacks; increasing lawlessness and apostasy. Does God really care? How blessed to exclaim, not only by the repetition of this wonderful text, but by actual personal experience — indeed He does!
Two Cannot Carry the Same Load
The logic of the verse is striking: if He is caring, my caring is wasted effort — and worse, it pulls the matter back out of His hands.
W. T. P. WolstonOh, what a comfort for the heart, what a rest for the soul in all the ups and downs and vicissitudes of this life, to know He cares for you! Then why should you trouble? Is it worth while for two to be caring for the same thing? If you are caring you take it out of His hands: if He is caring you can afford to be without care, to roll yourself into your Father's arms, and to rest there without fear or care. When you learn the perfectness of His care for you, then you are left free to care for His things and His interests, because He is taking care of yours.
A Father's Hand Behind Every Trial
The care that receives our cares is fatherly, not distant.
J. A. TrenchThy trials and difficulties are from the hand of a Father, who deals with thee in love, as with His child. He is drawing thee nearer to Himself. Thou must nestle all the closer to the side of Jesus… But the future? — well, the future, trust it to the Father. Bring Him all your care, "for He careth for you;" and leave it with Him.
Peter's Own Memory
The man who wrote this had once doubted that very care in a boat at midnight.
J. T. MawsonWhen Peter wrote, "Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you," did he remember the storm on the sea? when he and his brethren in a panic of fear awoke their sleeping Lord with the faithless cry, "Carest Thou not that we perish?" Surely never again after that experience would he doubt the care of his Lord.
The Servant's Snare
For those engaged in the Lord's work, the very service can crowd out the personal use of this verse.
MagazinesThose of us who seek to serve the Lord in preaching, are we not apt to forget this seventh verse, and to allow the service to come between the Lord and ourselves? I am privileged to cast all my care on Him.
Summary
- Two parts, one truth. Verses 6 and 7 belong together: the same mighty hand that humbles us is the hand that carries our cares.
- All means all. Every anxiety — sickness, bereavement, family, business, the state of the world — is included; nothing is too small or too large.
- Worry is unbelief. Hanging on to a care after God has invited us to cast it actually takes it out of His hands and speaks "the same language of unbelief."
- Fatherly care. The trials are from a Father; the verse turns them into proofs of love rather than reasons for fear.
- Freedom to serve. When His perfect care for us is known, we are at last free to care for His things and His interests.