John Calvin Commentary Psalms 55:22

"Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee: He will never suffer the righteous to be moved." — Psalms 55:22 (ASV)

Cast your giving upon Jehovah. The Hebrew verb יהב, yahab, signifies to give, so that יהבע, yehobcha, according to the ordinary rules of grammar, should be rendered your giving, or your gift. Most interpreters read your burden, but they assign no reason for this rendering. The verb יהב, yahab, never means to burden, and there is no precedent that might justify us in supposing that the noun derived from it can mean a burden. They have evidently felt compelled to invent that meaning due to the harshness and apparent absurdity of the more literal translation, Cast your gift upon Jehovah. And I grant that the sentiment they would express is a pious one: that we should relieve ourselves before God of all the cares and troubles that oppress us.

There is no other method of relieving our anxious souls but by resting upon the providence of the Lord. At the same time, I find no example of such a translation of the word, and I therefore adhere to the other, which conveys sufficiently important instruction, provided we understand the expression gift or giving in a passive sense, as meaning all the benefits that we desire God to give us.

The purpose of the exhortation is that we should entrust to God the care of those things that may concern our advantage. It is not enough that we appeal to God for the supply of our wants. Our desires and petitions must be offered up with a due reliance upon His providence, for many pray in a demanding spirit and, by the excessive anxiety and restlessness they show, seem determined to dictate terms to the Almighty.

In opposition to this, David recommends, as a fitting part of modesty in our supplications, that we should transfer to God the care of those things that we ask for. There can be no question that the only means of checking an excessive impatience is an absolute submission to the Divine will regarding the blessings that should be bestowed.

Some would explain the passage as follows: Acknowledge that the past goodness of the Lord has been such that you should hope in His kindness for the future. But this does not give the genuine meaning of the words. Whether David must be considered as exhorting himself or others here is a question of little importance, though he evidently seems, in laying down a rule for his own conduct, to prescribe one at the same time for all the children of God.

The words that follow, And He shall feed you, clearly confirm the view of the passage I have given above. Since we are subject in this life to many wants, we too often give ourselves over to uneasiness and anxiety. But David assures us that God will fulfill the role of a shepherd for us, taking on the entire care of our necessities and supplying us with everything that is truly for our advantage. He adds that He will not allow the righteous to fall, or always to stagger if מוט, mot, is understood as meaning a fall, then the meaning will be: God will establish the righteous so that they will never fall. But the other rendering seems preferable. We see that the righteous are, for a time, left to stagger and almost sink under the storms that beset them. David here declares that from this distressing state, they will eventually be freed and blessed with a peaceful end to all their harassing dangers and cares.