1 Peter 5:5-7 Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility… I. SOME PLAIN ILLUSTRATION OF THE DUTY HERE ENJOINED. 1. A firm persuasion of His infinite perfections, of His all-governing providence, and of His watchful care. 2. A calm and constant reliance on Him, through Jesus Christ, the only Mediator. 3. An unreserved resignation of our lot to the disposal of that God and Saviour on whom our hopes for eternity are placed. 4. Casting our cares on God not only implies referring our present and future lot to the unerring disposal of His wisdom, but holding delightful intercourse with Him in the various occurrences of our daily pilgrimage through life. II. SOME PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR ENABLING YOU RIGHTLY TO CAST YOUR BURDENS ON THE LORD, EVEN IN THE TIME OF SEVEREST DISTRESS. 1. Be sure that you are interested in Christ, and that you rely on His merits and mediation. 2. Live daily by faith on God Himself, as your all-sufficient portion through the Redeemer; and then you may cheerfully leave it with Him either to wound or to heal, to exalt or to lay low. 3. For enabling you to cast all your cares on the Lord, and, in all the trials of life, to maintain a steady trust in Him who reigns omnipotent, live daily by faith on the great and precious promises of His Word; let these promises be your support. 4. If you would live without anxious care, and would maintain habitual trust in God amidst the dangers and trials of life, look on this life as your pilgrimage, and long for heaven as your home. This will prevent your indulging in immoderate attachment to the things of time, and will preserve you from many mortifying disappointments which produce fretfulness and depression.Conclusion: 1. Learn how foolish and arrogant those persons are who trust for safety and success in themselves, independently of God; who rely on their own wisdom, talents, or exertions. 2. Learn that equally foolish and arrogant is confidence in the arm of flesh, or placing your trust in fellow mortals. 3. Learn how well it becomes us to unite in the devotional triumph of David, "Happy is he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." 4. Let me now direct my exhortation to those who have taken the glorious Jehovah for their refuge and their trust. (1) Mark with care the daily dealings of Providence towards you and yours; treasure them up in your memory for a time of need, and diligently observe the frame of your own mind, both under mercies and trials. (2) Remember that your trials are all necessary, and are sent in love, to purify you from sin, to wean you from the world, to bring you near to God, and to prepare you for heaven. (3) Cast all your burdens on the Lord, and both hope and quietly wait for His time and manner of deliverance. (A. Bonar.) Parallel Verses KJV: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. |
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