“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”-Psalm 37:5
When you hear the word commit, it calls to mind a proactive connotation. Synonyms like carry out, execute, or follow through. The word is fraught with action. You might also think of it in the proactive sense of devoted or dedicated. However, the translation of the word commit here reads closer to roll, cast, or leave off. One might well say the text is exhorting us to give it over to God, trust in Him, and he shall bring it to pass.
The scripture here is not an instruction in persistence, execution, or dedication. It is not an excuse to plan, coordinate and perform your own ambitions; all the while “committing” them to God. Pledging to God the outcome of your own ideals. No, in fact the scripture is calling us to do the opposite. It is calling us to yield. To trust. To lay it off your shoulders and onto the Almighty's. Trusting that the Lord will bring to pass “thy way." Not what you had in mind, but what He does, and wants you to follow. Which is incredibly contrary to human nature. The commitment is not an excuse to underscore my own plans or ambitions with scripture. It is the call of God to yield over all my plans and ambitions. It is not, I will go and do such and such, committing this or that to God. It is the determination that “I will give such and such over to God and let him bring the vision and path to me.” Committing here is one of unburdening yourself, of giving over. The key element is trust. As Christ trusted the Father and committed himself to Him. This is not something that I am carrying or orchestrating or striving to oversee. This way, this progress, this life, is not mine but God’s. It is the Lords. How easy it is for us to slip into going at life in our own way, with our own ambitions and mindset. We are trained and taught by culture to be the captain of our own ship. However, just like in Acts twenty-seven when the sea was too boisterous for the sailors; their only option was to “let her drive.” In other words, they let go of the helm and let the force of the sea them in their predestined course. This is contrary to a commitment to follow through on your predetermined plan. No, it is a commitment to allow the Almighty God to direct your steps. Leading and guiding us in the way we should go.
Commit thy ways. Roll them off your shoulders and onto the abiding strength of Almighty God. Let Christ direct our steps. This is done, I believe, principally through the vehicle of prayer. Prayer is a neglected art. It is sedentary in the physical, but active in the spiritual. It is a deliberate act of Christian discipline whereby we invest the valuable commodity of time in devotion to God. Searching, asking, and yielding to the will of God. God’s will cannot be discerned and implemented any other way. Prayer coupled with our study of God’s Word yields the way we should go. As we are reading to find out more about His character, his thoughts, desires, and design for creation. We find out more about ourselves. The Holy Spirit searches our own hearts and leads us down the path. The direction we go is further rooted in the Word of God. The way we walk is further committed, and we are more given to trust also in him. How much good could the Church do if we were to commit our ways to the Lord in such a manner as this?
