1 Peter 5:6-7 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may lift you up in time, 7casting all your anxiety on him, because he cares about you.
Verse 6 is Peter’s interpretation of the verse from Proverbs as he expounds on the word “humility.” He uses a passive imperative (tapeinōthēte) to urge his readers to humble themselves before God. The world tries to humble believers through shame and persecution. As a result, we might feel defeated and discouraged. To have humility forced on a person is not genuine humility but rather coercion, stress, humiliation, shame, or guilt. To humble oneself voluntarily before God is a matter of worship and fear in the form of deep reverence (1:17; 2:17). To humble ourselves before God requires that we submit ourselves to God’s ways and will.
Humility is difficult for many people, especially in a narcissistic age of self-centeredness and independence. Influenced by our fallen nature, our tendency is to set ourselves up against God. Humility is the opposite: lowering ourselves before God and exalting him. The outcome of humility must be obedience, otherwise the humility is not genuine but only fabricated or hypocritical. Humility is something we grow into, over time, through prayer and learning to allow God’s grace to change us. Humility should free us from the bonds of the flesh because we trust in God more. The opposite of humility is pride, which comes as we try to take control because we think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
God lifts up those who humble themselves before him. James 4:7-10 also quotes Proverbs 3:34 and gives further ideas about God’s response to those who humbles themselves before him. We humble ourselves before God’s mighty hand because we realize that he cares about us and is more than able to see us through any challenges we face. These words should have brought great encouragement to any of the readers who were facing persecution. Although they faced difficulty and hardship, they could look to God who would see them through to the day of Christ’s return. The phrase in time implies the need to endure. We may not get the answer right away to our need, but God will answer our need in the perfect time according to his will and plan. Meanwhile, we entrust ourselves to God in the midst of trials and tribulations.
Verse 7 describes how we do that by using an instrumental participle by casting (epiripsantes). This word gives the image of throwing something away from ourselves, such as a burden or load we have been carrying. We can take it off our shoulders and release it to God. The burden in this case is anxiety (merimnan). Peter might be remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25–34 and Luke 12:11, 22–32. Worry is part of human existence. Few people can live a care-free life. Anxiety is the feeling of stress that results when our plans are disrupted, sometimes by unknown events or by things we expect to happen but we have no power to change them.
Anxiety can motivate people to action, but it can also be crippling emotionally and spiritually because we are tempted to solve our problems by our own power. The Lord can carry our load because he is capable. Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4). We do not walk alone because we have the Holy Spirit with us as Comforter and Advocate. If we try to carry our burdens on our own, we will miss what God wants to do in our lives. To cast our cares on God requires that we trust him. If we try to carry pain, sorrow, and suffering on our own, we may grow more anxious to the point of being spiritually, emotionally, and physically defeated. Trials can grow our faith if we trust in God’s care.