Humble yourself before God, 1 Peter 5:5-9

Introduction

Peter writes to believers in order to encourage them to yield to what God is doing in their lives amid their trials. He reminded them in the beginning of the letter of their position in Christ and the hope they have. He reminded them in light of that hope to endure persecution to live differently then their neighbors. He pointed out to them that in the end they will realize their suffering was worth it because of their greater exaltation.

After speaking to them about how to conduct their lives and to think about their lives in various circumstances he calls them, and us to humility instead of pride. to cast their cares on God rather than go it alone. to be sober minded and on guard regarding temptations to turn from the Lord and to resist with steadfast faith. That is what has to happen in our lives. Four commands make what our response is to trouble clear.:

Humble yourself

The contrast between younger and Elder shows the latter is not referring to office, but age. The Younger are to have a certain mindset towards those who are older, cf.

The word clothe/gird means to tie the knot, like the knot of a girdle.

Ἐγκομβωμα [Egkombōma] was the white scarf or apron of slaves. It is quite probable that Peter here is thinking of what Jesus did (.) when he girded himself with a towel and taught the disciples, Peter in particular (.), the lesson of humility ().

Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

Example of course is Peter's own resistance to Jesus foot washing. cf. and .

Pride/arrogance, pride in one's own being and work, shows resistance to God. bragging about what one has to those who don't have.

the opposite is humility, humble- one who is lowly, not pretentious, one who considers himself as nothing, lowly, servile. He doesn't exalt himself as self important.

Paul reminds us of this in esp. v.5 "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . ."

v.6

Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God,

in order that He might exalt you in time.

The 'therefore' indicates this exhortation is based on v.5 the quote from

"Be humbled" that is passive, let yourself take on the mindset of humility under God's mighty hand.

Notice this is humbling under "the mighty hand of God." this is not something you can avoid or overcome in your own strength. This is from God, the suffering you are undergoing is not primarily from the enemy or from your sin. It is from God. It is the pressure God puts you under. You cannot get out from under the 'mighty hand of God' by your own strength or conniving. You can't squirm enough to make God loose His grip on you. The only thing that will get God to loosen his pressure on you is when you go in the direction He intends for you, - repentance? obedience? surrender?

Think of , , as samples of a believer under the pressure of God, that was intended to humble David and bring him back to the Lord.

Now then, Allow yourself to be humbled. Let him control, let Him direct your steps. This concept was used in where Moses is told that Pharoah will not submit to the mighty hand of God. He will resist it to the end. That didn't work out too good for him and it will not for you neither.

The humbling process God uses is the persecution and suffering they were going through. Peter is telling them to yield to the suffering, to submit to this discipline. In other words, don't fight against it by trying to avoid it or finding your own way out of it.

How do we normally face these things? with prayer for relief, leaving the church, leaving God, taking matters into our own hands through ignoring or neglecting the warning signs God has put in our way, as in friends telling us to quit our conduct or we will end up in ruin. We

I go along not wanting to stir up strife by standing for the gospel. If I feel threatened by what someone has said I might attack their character or be sarcastic toward them.

Some might run and hide to avoid the danger. In the context the believer might deny the Lord by giving offering to Caesar. Look at what Peter did after Christ was arrested.

Maybe try to cut off someone's ear (hypothetically).

Instead, we are called to allow the Lord to use the situation in our lives for His purposes to humble us.

What might that look like? Searching the bible for comforting words from Him; prayer, asking the Lord to show us what He is trying to do in our lives.

In my own life the situation with my back injury helped me to: appreciate His sacrifice for me in enduring the physical pain; it helped me to regroup and reevaluate the place my horses held in my heart, as well as exercise, being in shape. It helped me to focus more on His word, spending more time reading and studying, reevaluating or exposing sin in my life. I know that I have grown over the last year as I dealt with pain, limited mobility, the loss of independence, .

But notice, if you do submit to God He will exalt you in due time, the right time. .

What does the word 'time' refer to? Some suggest this refers to the end time in Heaven when the believer is glorified along with Christ. Then all this suffering will be worth it. You will be lifted up.

Others, think it refers to the right time as God sees it. It is His choosing. It may be in this life or it may be at the return of Christ.

Look at Paul, he and Silas are in jail because of their preaching Christ. God lifts them up in the end, the Jailer tends their wounds and his household gets saved. The officials are shamed when they release them from jail.

Or Peter when he is released from certain execution at night and returns to the believers hiding in their house.

But it might just look like your home going.

Rest assured, Peter means for the believers, that is you and me, to yield the pressure God puts on us through persecution knowing that in the end we will be exalted. We will receive the reward for our faithfulness in the face of temptation to denounce Christ.

Merimna-cares doesn’t refer to cares in general. Peter has a specific one in mind. Interestingly he states all the care (singular). He is not talking about partial care, but all the care. Whatever it is that has got your care. What is the situation he speaks of here? Whatever it is that concerns you at the moment. In the context it is submitting to whomever is over you at the time. Whether it be the younger to the elder, or whatever. Humbly submit as to God by casting your care/concern of the moment upon Him.

The word casting means to throw oneself into, to spring overboard, in the centurion made everyone jump overboard and swim to land. This wasn't a touch your toe to the water to test it, this was an all in kind of experience.

If you want to learn to swim you have to jump in with both feet. there can be no half way commitment.

When Judas threw the money into the temple, He couldn't get it back. he didn't want it back. In this case it is clear that is what you have to do. You can't give God your cares for a second to see what He will do with them and then when he doesn't act in the way you think He should or as fast as you think He should you take it back. No, that is to be double minded. That is pride.

The ptc. Is instrumental showing how to humble yourself before God.

giving in to worry is an example of pride. The logical relationship between the two clauses is as follows: believers humble themselves by casting their worries on God. Conversely, if believers continue to worry, then they are caving in to pride. (Which is what your adversary wants you to do.) How can anxiety and worry be criticized as pride? We can see that it might be a lack of faith, but does it make sense to identify worry as pride? Worry is a form of pride because when believers are filled with anxiety, they are convinced that they must solve all the problems in their lives in their own strength. The only god they trust in is themselves. When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in his mighty hand, acknowledging that he is Lord and Sovereign over all of life. As Goppelt says, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or severs one from God.”95 (NAC)

This is not fishing where you cast and then reel in and then cast again until you get the outcome you are looking for. No! This is total surrender to God and leaving it with Him.

The reason Peter gives is that you can trust God. He cares for you. The word is used often in a negative sense that of not caring. Jesus was accused of not caring about peoples opinions by the scribes () that was a good thing. But the disciples accused him of not caring that they perish in the storm () and Martha because Jesus didn't tell Mary to help her serve (). But this word is used in the positive sense here. Peter reminds us that God does care about us. He showed His care by sending His Son to die in our place. Is that not enough to get you to commit your concern to Him trusting that He will take care of what is needed at the time?

Peter probably gets this from esp v. 22 because the psalmist was dealing with the betrayal of a friend, a close companion and confidante. He is torn up by this. His concern/care, his burden is the betrayal of his friend and the subsequent treachery of his having to flee from his son Absalom. You can only imagine the anguish of his soul. He tries to expose that in this psalm.

But look at the trust he has in God n v.23ff.

And he was right.

I think Peter has this in mind. He has dealt with treachery. He saw Jesus deal with it with Judas Iscariot.

2. Be Sober minded

So not only do we cast our care on God as the way in which we humble ourselves under His mighty hand. But we also are

-To be sober, this and be watchful are Active verbs. The be humble is passive.

This sobriety of mind, as opposed to intoxication with μέριμναι βιωτικαί, (Alford) We see the word used two other times in ; The idea is one of being control of your thoughts, not be irrational in your thinking. Intoxicated people do things they would not do if they were sober. That is what is meant here. it is the thought of self control.

The contexts in these uses and in , ; "make it clear that it is acknowledgment of the reality given with God's revelation and in discharge of the resultant ministry by worship, hope, love and warfare." (TDNT)

In other words, Peter is saying don't lose your minds in the midst of your concern so that you either neglect to do the right things or you do the wrong things.

It is easy to get emotional and make emotionally charged decisions when you are amid a difficult situation. We tend to do things that don't make sense when you are not influenced by your emotions.

So don't be moved by your emotions, instead think soberly, wisely about your concerns. If you are emotional about something you might not wait for the Lord to do His work.

That is why the experts tell you to never make a decision after an emotional experience like a death or divorce, etc. Or to wait overnight, to sleep on it before making a large purchase.

Put your emotions in check is what he is saying.

3. Be watchful

A third piece of counsel he gives to us is-

be watchful (can it be that Peter thought of his Lord’s οὕτως οὐκ ἰσχύσατε μίαν ὥραν γρηγορῆσαι μετʼ ἐμοῦ, on the fatal night when he denied Him?

I wonder if Peter does have his own experience in failure to watch in mind.

it denotes paying attention, being mindful of threatening situations. It is like being on guard duty.

Be watchful for those temptations, for the sin or the attacks of evil.

In other words,prepare your mind and spirit for battle. Be ready.

If you ever watch National Geographic where they are filming a watering hole and you will see all sorts of animals there and off under a shade tree might be some lions. But the ox, zebras, wildebeasts and such they are all drinking as though there is no threat to them. But as soon as they see the lions change their posture they are up and running. Well, Satan our adversary is always on the prowl. You should never think that he is just lounging in the shade.

Peter puts it like this using three present tense words, roaring, walking and seeking. He never takes a break. As soon as you slow up or take a break that is when he pounces.

Lions don’t roar before they get their prey. They are quiet and sneaky then when they are feasting they roar.

If that is true what is Peter saying? I think Peter is saying the adversary if he is roaring has already got his prey. Don’t you be next on the list.

Sometimes they roar to let others in the pride know where they are. Sometimes to let others know this is their territory.

Lions use their roar as a way to remind other lions that they are in control over an area. Another reason for the lion's roar is to reconnect with lions who might have traveled farther away while hunting or roaming. This allows the lions to find one another again and to check in with one another. All lions have a unique roar, which helps them to understand who is calling out. (Reference.com)

What Peter is saying is that you always know the Adversary is around. We should assume he is always near. But there is One who is always with us, God/Jesus. If we get devoured it is our own fault. It is because we haven't been watching.That adversary may tempt you with greed, lust, time, anything that will or might pull you away from walking with the Lord.

So you and I have to assume, always, that there is lurking in our daily life a distraction, a lure away from the Lord. It might be something that seems innocent at the moment, but later on you see that it was not. So be careful. Where you see one termite there are many more and the damage is already done and being done.

4. Resist

A fourth command is to Resist:

antistate-means to stand against, to be hostile towards, to oppose. This is the word we saw in "resist the devil."

This word was used in for Elymas's resistance to the gospel, of Jannes and Jambres opposition to Moses .

We are to resist the devil by our firm faith, our personal trust and faith in The Lord, our confidence and trust in Him is how we resist those temptations. We are to be steadfast in the faith in our resistance. We cast our care on Him instead of taking matters into our own hands and thinking we can do a better job than He can.

We can resist because we know that our brothers in the faith have faced similar trials successfully. They did it, we can too.

Peter uses the experiences of other believers to encourage his readers.

This is not a passive thing, but active. We are to be actively involved in engaging against the enemy.

This is how we are to live our daily life, with this mindset of humility, sober thinking, alert for temptations, resist when they arise.