Most scholars see here the reflection of an early Christian tradition that exhorted Christians to humility because of the presence of Satan. Christians need God’s grace to gain victory over the devil’s assaults. Whereas James brings out the importance of humility for dealing with inner-church strife, Peter draws out the significance of humility and grace for the suffering believer. The humble wait for God’s exaltation of believers at the end of time (cf. 2:12). “Humbling oneself ‘under the mighty hand of God’ is not an ethical admonition making a virtue of necessity, but springs from the religious insight, that God alone can change the ultimate darkness of this world era, that only he can ‘exalt you in the time of visitation’ (5:6).”

Believers are to “humble” themselves under “God’s mighty hand.” Peter seems to have in mind an eschatological persecution motif: As God’s mighty hand was seen in the plagues of the Exodus (see Ex. 3:19; 6:1; 13:3, 9, 14, 16), so his mighty hand is now being seen in the persecution the believers in Asia Minor are experiencing. By submitting to and waiting out God’s deliverance, they can expect that same mighty hand to deliver them (5:6b), just as the Lord delivered the children of Israel. While the word behind “due time” may be general (in God’s own timing), that same term is used frequently in 1 Peter and early Christian literature for the final day of salvation (cf. 1:5, 7, 13; 2:12; 4:7). It is more likely that Peter thinks of an eschatological vindication of God’s suffering people than some kind of reward or vindication in this life.

Peter grounds their submission to God in his loving care and protection: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (5:7). If Peter has in mind the picturesque words of Jesus (Matt. 6:25–34), he has now taken them into the realm of persecution. Drawing on Psalm 55:22 (lxx 54:23), where the psalmist expresses confidence that God will never permit the righteous to be moved and will eventually bring evildoers to justice, Peter exhorts his churches to express a similar confidence in God’s justice. By turning over their fears and worries to God, they express their trust in him and rely on him to bring about vindication and justice. The reason for turning over fears to God is because “he cares for you.” In summary, these two verses are concerned with persecution and suffering and the appropriate Christian response. Believers are to humble themselves before God by submitting to his will, which now includes suffering; they are to turn over their worries to him and let him bring about the justice that he has promised in his own time. In submitting to God’s will and enduring suffering for the sake of Christ, Christians are undergirded with the knowledge that God cares about and loves them.

The Exhortation to Vigilance (5:8–9). The activity of Christians’ submitting themselves to God in a confident trust of his ultimate triumph is suddenly interrupted with two sharp commands: “Be self-controlled and alert!” Or, as J. R. Michaels translates: “Pay attention! Wake up!” Why? Because “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (5:8). Satan, it was believed, would be particularly active in the last days (2 Thess. 2:3–12; 2 Tim. 3:1–9; Revelation), and since the persecution Peter’s readers are suffering is a harbinger of those last days, it is not surprising that he exhorts them to be alert to Satan’s activity. The devil’s roaring and devouring is possibly to be connected with insults (cf. 2:11–12; Ps. 21:14) or, more probably, with assaults aimed at physical death (2 Tim. 4:17).