Cast Your Burdens on the Lord

Our reading this week is Psalm 54 to 57.

All of the psalms in our reading this week are psalms of David, and they were inspired by his own life events when he was on the run from King Saul. In those years, David faced not only the constant threat of capture and violent death at the hands of Saul, but also betrayal by friends and public scorn by many who were powerful in Israel. It was a daunting time, and all David had to rely upon was promise of God (delivered by the prophet Samuel) that he, David, would be king over all of Israel.

Along with the promise, he had memories of God's providence - his victory over Goliath and over Philistine enemies. But I am sure those memories seemed to grow increasingly distant as the years dragged on and he was still in danger and still not king.

What was his secret during those difficult years? What sustained him as he lived hard in caves and was frequently on the move for fear of discovery? How did he keep his focus when every circumstance in his world seemed to whisper and sometimes shout of his defeat?

We see the answer to these questions in these psalms. He states both his difficulty and his solution throughout. Psalm 55 gives a perfect example:

His speech was smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. (55:21-22)

Despite the disappointment and hurt by the betrayal of a friend, despite the on-
going hardships of life, despite the sorry circumstances that seemed to never change, David made it a habit to cast his burdens upon the Lord and let God sustain him. It is a great habit to cultivate. To begin every morning and to end every day with the giving of our burdens and heartaches to God and then moving on to praise and some statement of trust in both the goodness and the power of God.

We can lament our present circumstances, and we can still honor God with our worship. We can complain to God about our situation, and we can still trust in God's goodness to us. We can unburden ourselves of our hurts and heartaches, our grief and our grievances, and we can still love God with both our words and our obedience.

And in the midst of our struggles, we find, as David did, that God is sufficient. God provides. God sustains. The Apostle Paul echoes these very same sentiments - this very same truth - in 2 Corinthians 4:

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (4:5-17)

So cast your burdens on God this morning, and let Him sustain you - today and throughout the week!