“COMMIT thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5
When a person first gets saved, what book of the Bible are they typically encouraged to start reading? Psalms, right? Why Psalms? For one thing, the book of Psalms does not contain all of those long genealogies that we cannot pronounce even half correctly and that we like to mumble through when called to read them out loud in Sunday School or church. Am I the only one who does this? For another, the chapters (for the most part) are short and the individual verses tend to contain whole thoughts so long attention spans are not required to grasp the thought or principle that is being brought forth.
This verse actually has three thoughts (parts) going on here. I am not sure how far we will get today, but let us start with the first thought … and more specifically, the first word … commit. Boy, I do not even have to define this yet and I have already gotten my spiritual toes stepped on. Ouch! Why did David have to start this verse so bluntly?
To commit means the state of being dedicated to a cause. To be fully committed, it takes a cause. Now, I know it is going to sound like I am running a rabbit trail here, but bear with me as I bring these thoughts together for us to more clearly see what David wants us to understand.
I wonder if David was reflecting back to I Samuel 17 when he wrote this verse? (Now I am musing!) Because the very first thing that popped into my thoughts when I read the definition was I Samuel 17:29 when David replied to his brother, Eliab, saying, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” I hear a little exasperation there, did you hear it too? David is telling his brother, “Now what have I done?! Can I not do anything right in your eyes?” But, David did not leave it at that. He questioned his brother further, saying, “Is there not a cause?” In other words, “Is there not a good reason why I am questioning your sanity and the sanity of the entire army of Israel for fleeing and cowering from fighting this Philistine who just happens to be a giant (verse 25)? Do we not serve and fight for a living God (verse 26)?”
Do you and I not easily forget when facing our giants that we also serve and fight for a living God? We do! Therein lies our cause, does it not? Now if we only had the commitment and dedication to that cause like David did! He did not let fear enter the equation. Instead, what did he do? He “commit[ed] [his] way unto the LORD; [he] trusted also in [God]; and [God]” brought about the victory that day … over a GIANT, my friend! It was not a teeny, tiny mouse. It was something that no human had the strength to do on their own. But … there was a cause and there was a commitment! Hallelujah!
Does this make you see this verse in a completely different light? It does me. I had always understood this verse to say that I needed to “commit” aka tell God what I saw as my path … and then trust in Him to make it happen. But, how wrong I was! That is not at all what David is telling us here. You and I, my friend, need to commit ourselves anew unto the cause of Christ … trust Him to equip us, trust Him to take away our fear of the giants looming in the forefront, and trust Him to give us the victory today! He is able! My God is able!