Bible Commentaries

A BURDEN-BEARING GOD

‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.’

Psalms 55:22

A great part of the burden of daily life is the sin that is in it. Take out the sin, and there will not be much burden left.

I. As regards those common burdens which every one bears, God says, ‘Cast thy burden on the Lord.’—It is very difficult to sympathise with one another’s burdens; and of course each, knowing only his own, thinks his own the heaviest. Christ alone can sympathise with all. But your burden is the one main thing you have to do with, suited for present discipline, a selected, ordained, adjusted thing—‘thy burden.’ Leave the balancing, and trust the Balancer.

II. What is casting?—It needs an effort to believe. It needs an effort to do the first step; it needs an effort to make it once and for ever. What is the way? (1) Take loving views of Jesus—of His sympathy, His nearness, His power, His undertakings, His interest, personal, in you. (2) Open to Him your whole heart, not the burden only, but what surrounds it. (3) Do not go back to your own castings. Put them too far away for that.

III. Observe how the Lord deals with cast burdens.—He does not say, ‘I will take away thy burden,’ but ‘I will sustain thee.’ To this end He will unite Himself to you more closely, so that, just as the ivy on the rock, you will both borrow a strength from the rock not your own and pass on to the rock the pressure that you feel. He will be ‘your arm every morning,’ on which leaning you cannot faint. He will feed you with such hidden manna that you will grow so strong that you can carry anything.

Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustration

(1) ‘Ask for a few definite things. It may be that they will number five or ten. (2) Be particular and definite in making each request. (3) Stop for a little after each, and consider that God has heard and assumed the responsibility with respect to it. (4) Stay your soul upon a promise. (5) Look up into His face and say: “It is as good as done, and I thank Thee.” (6) You may have to wait till the opportune moment arrives, when God can entrust you with the answer, but it is yours. (7) Cease to worry about it, but often look into God’s face, and say: “Father, I know that it is all right, I am reckoning and trusting.”’