Psalms 55:17-23: a reflection

17Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice. 18He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me. 19God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them. Selah. They never change and don’t fear God. 20He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. 21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. 22Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. 23But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.

In the midst of distress and betrayal, the psalmist gives us one of the plainest invitations in all the Psalms: cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. Cast your burden on the LORD, the psalm says, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. The psalmist was carrying a heavy burden: distress, opposition, the pain of betrayal by a friend whose words were smooth as butter but whose heart was war. And into this weight he speaks, and hands his burden to God: cast it on the LORD, and he will sustain you. The invitation is to bring the whole weight of what troubles us to God, to lay it on him, and to trust that he will hold us up. This shows the invitation to cast our burden on the LORD, who sustains us. Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. Bring the whole weight of your trouble to God. God sustains those who lay their burden on him. Do not carry your burden alone; cast it on the LORD.

Notice what this invitation asks and promises. It asks us to cast our burden on the LORD, to bring the whole weight of whatever troubles us, our distress, our anxieties, our griefs, our fears, and lay it on God rather than carrying it ourselves. And it promises that when we do, he will sustain us; he will hold us up, uphold us, and not allow us to be utterly overthrown. The psalmist speaks this out of real distress, carrying the pain of betrayal and opposition; and in the midst of it, rather than being crushed under the weight, he casts his burden on the LORD. This is an invitation for us in every burden we carry. We are often weighed down, carrying our burdens ourselves, bearing the weight of our anxieties and troubles as if it were ours alone to carry. But God invites us to cast our burden on him, to hand him the weight, to lay it on his care, and he promises to sustain us. We do not have to carry our burdens alone or be crushed under them; we can cast them on the LORD, who will hold us up. When you are weighed down, do not carry the burden alone; cast it on the LORD, bringing him the whole weight, and trust that he will sustain you and not let you be overthrown. Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. Do not carry your trouble alone; hand its weight to God. God upholds those who lay their burden on him. Bring the whole weight of your distress to the LORD who sustains.

That is worth resting in, for we can cast our burden on the LORD, who will sustain us and not let us be overthrown, as the psalmist, in the midst of distress and betrayal, laid his burden on God. We often carry our burdens ourselves, weighed down and near to being crushed; but the psalmist cast his burden on the LORD, trusting that he would sustain him. God holds us up. When you are weighed down by trouble, do not carry the burden alone; cast it on the LORD, bringing him the whole weight, and trust that he will sustain you. Rest in the invitation to cast your burden on the LORD, who will sustain you and never let the righteous be moved, as in the midst of distress and betrayal the psalmist handed his burden to God, saying, cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you; for the psalmist was carrying a heavy burden of distress, opposition, and the pain of betrayal by a friend whose words were smooth as butter but whose heart was war, and into this weight he spoke, casting it on the LORD, so that the invitation is to bring the whole weight of what troubles us to God, to lay it on him, and to trust that he will hold us up, since the invitation asks us to cast the whole weight of whatever troubles us, our distress, anxieties, griefs, and fears, on God rather than carrying it ourselves, and promises that when we do he will sustain us, uphold us, and not allow us to be utterly overthrown, which is an invitation for us in every burden we carry, since we are often weighed down carrying our burdens as if it were ours alone to bear, but God invites us to cast our burden on him and lay it on his care, promising to sustain us, so that we do not have to carry our burdens alone or be crushed under them but can cast them on the LORD who will hold us up.

Lord, in the midst of distress and betrayal, the psalmist gives me one of the plainest invitations in all the Psalms: cast your burden on you, and you will sustain me. Cast your burden on the LORD, the psalm says, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. The psalmist was carrying a heavy burden: distress, opposition, the pain of betrayal by a friend whose words were smooth as butter but whose heart was war. And into this weight he speaks, and hands his burden to you: cast it on the LORD, and he will sustain you. The invitation is to bring the whole weight of what troubles me to you, to lay it on you, and to trust that you will hold me up. Show me what this invitation asks and promises. It asks me to cast my burden on you, to bring the whole weight of whatever troubles me, my distress, my anxieties, my griefs, my fears, and lay it on you rather than carrying it myself. And it promises that when I do, you will sustain me; you will hold me up, uphold me, and not allow me to be utterly overthrown. The psalmist speaks this out of real distress; and in the midst of it, rather than being crushed under the weight, he casts his burden on you. This is an invitation for me in every burden I carry. I am often weighed down, carrying my burdens myself, as if it were mine alone to carry. But you invite me to cast my burden on you, to hand you the weight, and you promise to sustain me. Take that to my heart, for I can cast my burden on you, who will sustain me. When I am weighed down by trouble, keep me from carrying the burden alone; help me cast it on you, Lord, bringing you the whole weight of my distress, and trust that you will sustain me and never let me be overthrown.