Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
(Psalm 55:22 ESV)
Are you carrying an emotionally crushing burden right now?
As beautiful as life is, it can be awfully dark. We experience varying degrees of trouble, from nuisances to tragedies. Because of this, we carry burdens of all shapes and sizes; some just aggravate us, others crush us. Some burdens we carry day-by-day. Others only rest on our shoulders for a few hours. Still other burdens weigh down our souls for entire seasons, threatening to sap all our strength.
In the Bible, we read a testimony from someone who realized God is a burden-bearer. This person found that God doesn’t just carry our daily burdens or our emergency burdens. He also carries the heaviest burdens of those he loves.
The Testimony of Psalm 55
So what was the burden of the author of Psalm 55, the one who found God to be his burden-bearer? Let me say again; it was heavy. This is how the burden affected the psalmist: “My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking” (Psalm 55:4-5 NLT).
If you described your own experience that way to a medical professional today, they would call that a panic attack. The psalmist was intensely distressed over this burden and implied that it was unbearable (Psalm 55:12).
What troubled him so profoundly? The betrayal of a close friend (Psalm 55:12-13)—an intense betrayal in which an old friend and fellow follower of God now hated him, insulted him, and even hunted him down to kill him.
The psalmist vents that this old friend speaks peaceably but harbors bitter hatred against him. It’s after this comment that he says, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you” (v. 22, NLT).
The psalmist tells us of the crushing weight of his own burden, and he immediately follows that by saying, when you too are crushed under this kind of weight, cast that burden onto the Lord.
Notice that this encouragement is filled with trust. The psalmist trusts that God can carry what crushes us. Not only can he carry the burden we give him, but he can also carry us! The verse does not say, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will carry them for you.” The verses says, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.” This implies that God will not only carry your burden but also care for you.
What’s Your Burden?
What’s the intense trial you feel crushed under? Perhaps it’s a chronic illness that you or a loved one is having to endure. It could be an ongoing financial hardship. Or maybe, like the psalmist, it’s a relational tragedy. Whatever it may be, will you respond today to the invitation from God’s Word, inspired by God’s Spirit, and given out of his great love for you?
Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you (Psalm 55:22 ESV).