Psalm 37:5 - Commit your ways
Text:
Commit thy way unto the Lord — ??? ?? ???? gol al Yehovah.
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”(KJV).
“Open up before God, keep nothing back; he’ll do whatever needs to be done.”(MSG)
“Commit your future to the LORD! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.”(NET)
Introduction:
Psalms 37 is a wisdom psalm, offering practical advice on how to live a righteous life and find ultimate fulfilment in God. This Psalm is one of the acrostic or alphabetical kind: it is having two verses under each letter.
1. Commit your ways
Exposition:
Psalms 37:5 encourages us to fully surrender our plans, ambitions, and desires to the Lord. This verse speaks to the importance of seeking God's direction and trusting in His provision, goodness, faithfulness and timing. This act of "committing" or "rolling" our way unto the Lord involves acknowledging God's sovereignty and seeking His guidance and will in all aspects of our lives.
ROLL thy way upon the Lord: It is a metaphor taken from the camel, who lies down till his load be rolled upon him.
The verb commit in Hebrew means “to roll.” The idea is that we completely give something over to God in dependence upon Him. If we completely depend upon God in our work, He will “establish” our plans. That is, He will “bring about” or “cause to happen” our plans. By committing our ways to the Lord, we surrender our own desires and dreams to His will, leading to a life of obedience, faith, and spiritual growth.
Spurgeon:
“Roll the whole burden of life upon the Lord. Leave with Jehovah not thy present fretfulness merely, but all thy cares; in fact, submit the whole tenor of thy way to him. Cast away anxiety, resign thy will, submit thy judgment, leave all with the God of all.”
Oswald Chambers
“Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realise that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives”
Mathew Henry:
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, the burden of thy care. We must roll it off ourselves, not afflict and perplex ourselves with thoughts about future events, but refer them to God. By prayer spread thy case and all thy cares before the Lord, and trust in him. We must do our duty, and then leave the event with God. The promise is very sweet: He shall bring that to pass, whatever it is, which thou has committed to him.”
John Gill:
“Commit all the affairs and business of life doesn’t mean that men should sit still, be inactive, and do nothing, and leave all to be done by the Lord; but should seek direction of God in everything engaged in, and for strength and assistance to perform it, and go on in it, and depend upon him for success, and give him all the glory, without trusting to any thing done by them.”
2. Committing lives to Christ:
God will put the right plans, the ones according to his will, into your heart. His plans will become your plans. And then he will make those plans succeed. Commit your actions, works, plans, ways, and thoughts to the Lord. He will establish it.
Cast all care upon him and his providence for supply, support, and sustenance in life; and, having so done, may sit down easy and satisfied, as one that is rid of a burden by casting it on another, better able to bear it, or more equal to the work committed to him.
The Targum: "reveal thy works to God", The Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions: "reveal thy works to the Lord". Reveal thy case, condition, and circumstances; thy wants and necessities; seek and ask for a supply of him, make known thy requests to him; for though he is not ignorant of the affairs of his people, yet he will be sought unto to do the things for them he intends to do, and they need, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Believers have to commit everything to the Lord by faith and in prayer. Commit himself, his case, his ways, and works, to the Lord, his mind is made easy, his thoughts are composed and settled, and he quietly waits for the issues of things. This makes him calm, sedate, and easy; and he is in a fair way of having his designs, desires, and endeavours accomplished (Psalms 37:5).
Psalm 37:3 says “Trust in the Lord.” When God has placed a passion on your heart it is exciting. It isn’t enough just to know what God wants you to do. But know his designs to achieve His plan. If we don’t consult Him with how to accomplish His plan, we can get ahead of Him or take a different path to get there than He had planned.
Bridgeway:
A person may make plans, but God is the one who determines their outcome. He knows the person’s unseen motives and controls events according to his purposes. It is important, therefore, always to bring God into one’s planning.
God brings things to pass. This acknowledges the power and sovereignty of God to bring about His purposes in our lives. When we commit our ways to the Lord and trust in Him, we can have confidence that He will work all things together for our good, in accordance with His perfect plan. It invites us to engage in a deep and intimate connection with the Lord, allowing Him to be the ultimate authority in our lives.
A few other supportive verses:
- Commit your plans to the Lord because your plans are limited and short. God has better plans and long and lasting plans (Jeremiah 29:11).
- The man plans his ways but God establishes the plans (Proverbs 16:9).
- May he grant your heart’s desire and fulfil all your plans (Psalm 20:4).
- Without counsel, plans fail but with numerous advisers, they succeed (Proverbs 15:22).
- Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Proverbs 19:21).
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go (Psalm 32:8).
Proverbs 16:3 “Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place”(MSG). “Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed”.(AMPB).
Conclusion:
Commit, trust in him, and be successful.
An attitude of quiet trust is surely a better option for daily life. But such an attitude does not equate to quietism. The admonition to “be still” does not mean to remain inert. That such should be the understanding here is confirmed by the charge to “wait patiently” that appears in the same line.
