Twenty to twenty-five years ago, Judy and I began to set aside a few dollars every month in the hopes of leaving it to our children should the Lord not take us away together at some point. We established an account with a well-known investment company, and other than meeting with our financial advisor once a year, I hardly ever give that account a second thought. The tiny deposits are made automatically. A week ago Monday, we had our yearly meeting with our advisor, and he mentioned that we hadn’t even spoken on the phone since our last meeting. He said that a lot of investors are really worried over the economy and about their money, so they regularly call to give him their advice – but not the Oldfields. I shrugged and told him that I didn’t know enough about investments to tell him anything. I was willing to leave it in the hands of someone who was an expert in that sort of thing.
If I may say so, I think Peter is telling me – he is telling us – to do that sort of thing in every area of our lives. “Casting all your care upon (God), for he careth for you.” The Lord knows how to manage our lives better than we do – or that we can. He knows the “markets,” and He has access to all the fiscal projections, even to controlling all the circumstances of the future. You might say that Jehovah is the perfect “inside trader.” And He is concerned enough about His children to manage our investments on our behalf. He cares.
It is important to consider the context of verse 7. Peter’s statement, not only comes on the heels of “Humble yourselves… under the mighty hand of God,” but it is directly connected to it. Here are two things on which every Christian needs to work – both elders and “ye younger” saints: We need to constantly strengthen our humility and our trust in the Lord. The opposites of these, if I am not mistaken – pride & worry are two of the most prevalent sins among us.
This evening let’s consider a few things about “care casting.”
First, what are those CARES to which Peter refers?
There shouldn’t be any doubt that he is talking about worry and all those euphemisms we used to hide it. Peter is talking about our “anxieties” and our “fretting,” our “concerns,” our “apprehensions” and our “misgivings” about different things. Some people are concerned about the economy, others about the government, about the future, about icy roads and sidewalks and about the next virus. The list could go on and on almost to infinity. But the apostle doesn’t mention anything in particular. He lumps them together and tells us to cast them all upon our omnipotent and loving God.
The word which Peter uses, and which is translated “care,” is always used in a negative way in the Bible. Three times the Lord Jesus, in His parable of the soils, described “the cares of the world” choking out the seed of the gospel. He also said, “take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” – Luke 21:34. What day, Lord? The day of His coming Kingdom. Christ Jesus is returning soon, but many Christians are so preoccupied with their worldly worries that they will be shocked and surprised when they find themselves standing before their Lord and Saviour.
The only time this word is used in a semi-positive sense is in II Corinthians 11:28, and even there I’m not sure that there isn’t a hint of sinful flesh in it. When Paul was concluding the list of his trials in this world – beatings, stonings and ship wrecks, he said, “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” I think this is far more than just the management of those churches. Paul was worried about what was happening in Corinth and what was befalling the Macedonian saints. Should he have been? Although completely understanding what he was saying, I’m not sure his concern was really a good thing.
The Greek word for “care” is “merimna” (mer’-im-nah). I share that with you only because I’d like you to know the root from which that word is derived. It is “merizo” (mer-id’-zo), and that particular word is most often translated “to divide.” To have this kind of “care” is to divide or separate a person’s trust from the Lord, taking it on himself. “Here Lord, I don’t want you to have to take care of this particular problem. Let me worry about it.” This word means that we think our Devine Investment Agent isn’t exactly fit to handle every situation.
As we saw in our last lesson, verse 6 is an exhortation to humility. Notice that your KJV Bible has a colon after verse 6 and preceding the exhortation to “cast your cares.” Why didn’t our translators supply a period after exhorting us to humility? Isn’t it because at the root of our anxieties lays the sin of pride? It is not always so, but we often worry, refusing to give the Lord our “power of attorney,” because deep down in our hearts we think we can handle our lives and circumstances, and we want to be in control. Pride is the root of so many of our sins. And as a result, so are many of our problems. Additionally, in the back of our minds, we aren’t too sure that the Lord is willing to expend His omnipotence on our needs. He must be awfully busy. Does He really care? So the exhortation takes on a little different context: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
Peter tells us to CAST those cares upon the Lord.
It isn’t particularly important to our study, but this word “cast” is used in only one other Bible verse. When the Lord Jesus was being escorted into Jerusalem on His last official visit, He sent a couple of the disciples to bring to Him a certain unbroken donkey colt. “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon” – Luke 19:35. Then began the so-called “Triumphal Entry” into the city. The disciples humbled themselves and honored the Lord by taking off their coats and casting them onto the back of the ass. There was some degree of sacrifice, and possibly even embarrassment in what they did.
There isn’t anything particularly important in the word itself, but the way in which it is used is significant. “Casting all your care,” is in the Greek aorist tense, which means it is supposed to be a one time event. “Cast your care, once and for all, upon the One who cares for you.”
I don’t need to call my investment advisor every other day to tell him, “I’m giving you authority to handle my retirement funds.” I gave him that authority the day I opened my account. And the same should be true in our “care casting” upon the Lord. We gave him authority to save our souls, haven’t we? We are not looking at anyone but Christ to save us. And we are not trying to assist the Lord in saving us, by adding any of our works. We can’t advise Him on the best ways to deal with our sins. We don’t even have to plead with Him to continue to save us, because we know that He already has. In the same way as we cast ourselves upon His mercy to save us, we are supposed to have cast our earthly lives into His sovereign, providential care.
And by the way, the word “all” continues that train of thought. We tend to break our lives apart into dozens of pieces and segments. “Oh, oh, Lord, I have to fly to Tennessee, do you mind taking charge? I can handle things once we get our rental car, but while in the air, we’ll need your special care.” And the roads are icy right now, so we need angelic assistance to get home this evening. But we need the Lord’s tender loving care, on short, smooth and dry trips, as well as on long icy ones. Similarly, some people may be able to cast their financial concerns upon God, but their health concerns are different, or visa versa. Yes, we trust the Lord for eternity, but for the rest of our earthly lives, we want to maintain some control ourselves. And when we find that things aren’t in control, that is when we worry. No wonder we worry far too much. We lack proper faith in God.
Peter’s exhortation “casting all your care upon him,” suggests a one time casting of everything upon God. I’m not suggesting that it is a sin, or some sort of lack of faith, to wake up in the morning and in prayer cast your life into His arms once again. The reiteration of our surrender and dependance upon God is probably good for our souls as a reminder of our weakness and the Lord’s promises to bless. But it should recognized that “care casting” this has already been fully and completely done – if indeed it has been done at all.
Upon whom must we cast our cares? Upon the One who CARES for us.
The care with which the Lord blesses His children is a different word than our care, and obviously there is no sin in what God does. But what an understated word it is; what an understatement – “God careth for you.” Our Saviour not only cares for us, but the Bible says that He loves us with a love that is inexpressible. Humanly speaking, there are a number of levels of love. There is friendship, affection, family love, romantic love, and perhaps others. Some person might say that he cares about another person – “I care about you.” Coming from human lips that means he or she doesn’t really love you. It is certainly not the same as love for a spouse, or for a child of the family. Unless my wife knows I’m kidding, it would be dangerous for me to say to her, “I care for you.”
But Peter is talking about the infinite God, and with Him everything is taken to a higher and heavenly level. “God careth for you,” so much as to send His only begotten Son to die for you. This is care of the most extreme kind. Paraphrasing Romans 8 just a bit – “If God (careth) for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” “Casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you.”
David said, in Psalm 55 – “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Why David? Because he careth for you. Remember that the Lord made those people righteous in the first place through His saving grace. How can He care enough to save them, but then not be interested in the condition of their earthly lives?
The Lord Jesus dealt with this during His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Perhaps my application of the illustration isn’t precise and on point in all its details… But the lilies and sparrows have cast their cares upon their Creator. I know that it is their nature, and they really have no choice but to trust the Lord. And yes, the grass and the flowers may bloom and grow only for a short time. But they live entirely within the Lord’s will. Why don’t we human beings want to live like that? Isn’t the Lord Jesus telling us to “cast all our cares” upon the same God in whom the sparrows trust? Doesn’t He say to all of us: “O ye of little faith, why can’t you rely on the Lord to meet your needs as He sees fit?” Doesn’t He say that it is the unsaved Gentile who lives under the worry of “what shall we eat, what shall we drink; what shall we wear?” “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
Going back to the context, relief from anxiety and care comes with faith and submission to our omnipotent, loving Heavenly father. “God giveth grace to the humble,” and since we need daily grace, we must humble ourselves before Him and trust His care. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” Not only do we look forward to that future exaltation, but we need constant day-to-day, down-to-earth divine care as well. And when we refuse to cast our cares upon Him, we should not expect to receive His care.
How can we obey the principle of this verse? What are the mechanics of “care casting?” It is by faith we throw our problems onto the Lord. I will close with Paul’s words to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”