Day 47: Roll It on the LORD
Read: Psalm 22:6–11
He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!
— Psalm 22:8 (ESV)
Reflect
This verse is spoken by the wrong people. In verses 6–8 the sufferer describes a crowd that scorns him, makes faces, and wags their heads. Then they quote his own faith back at him.
Our Bibles say, "He trusts in the LORD." The Hebrew word is gol, "roll it." Roll, the way you roll a heavy stone. It is a picture of trust: you roll your burden off yourself and onto someone else. Some read the line as a command — "Roll it on the LORD!" Others read it as a report — "He rolled it on the LORD." Either way, the crowd is sneering at the very thing he has done.
This is faith-language used as a weapon. "You say you trust God? Let's watch him show up." And their words echo Psalm 18: "for he delights in him." A promise turned into a taunt.
But the taunt does not make the words untrue. Rolling your burden onto the LORD is still exactly the right thing to do. The mockers do not get to decide what your trust is worth.
And the next verses show the sufferer doing just that. He turns from the crowd and speaks to God: "You are he who took me from the womb" (v. 9).
Across Scripture
Psalm 37:5 uses the same word: "Commit your way to the LORD" — roll it onto him. Proverbs 16:3 says the same about your work. Peter echoes it: "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). And at the cross, the religious leaders mocked Jesus with this very verse: "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him" (Matthew 27:43).
Sit With It
Someone may have turned your faith into a taunt. You can still use the same words as a prayer. Name one burden, and roll it onto him now.
Pray
I roll this on you.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.