Victory in our Burdens

“Cast your burden on Jehovah, and He will keep you; He will never allow the righteous to waver.” (Psalms 55:22)

Jehovah which means “I am; the eternal living one” is used to mean the true, supreme and eternal One. God is the same from the beginning of time and has not changed. “For I am Jehovah, I change not...” (Malachi 3:6) The same is written about Jesus. “...Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) This makes sense since the Godhead is One. God the Holy Spirit Who hovered over the dark earth, Who empowered the great warriors of the Old Testament and inspired the prophets also hasn’t changed. He is the One Who indwells us and empowers us to become more like Jesus as we surrender our sin when we acknowledge it.

David urges the reader to cast their burden on Jehovah, on God, the eternal living One Who does not change. This is something David had done since he was a young shepherd taking care of the sheep. He was very familiar with hurling the lot that had come upon him, on the Lord, whether it was a bear, a lion and later King Saul, his son Absolom and lastly the Philistines. What is your lot? What difficulty is coming upon you? Is it in the home? ...the family? ...on the job? ...in your relationships? Wherever the difficulty is, hurl it to the Lord. The word hurl is very descriptive. David purposely uses this word. It’s not merely of handing over the difficulty to the Lord but hurling it. The Lord can take it and glorify Himself. Peter used a similar word in Greek which means throw which was also translated cast. “Therefore, be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.” (1Peter 5:6-7)

The definition for hurl is to throw with great force or a forcible or violent throw. It is a forceful action. Some of the definitions apply emotions to the hurl. And as such should we when we are at the receiving end of a difficulty. But what happens is that we don’t hurl the difficulties that come our way. We caress them, cry over them and then give it to the Lord, reluctantly at that as if we could do anything about them. What we should do is immediately hurl it to the Lord and be done with it. Allow the Lord to deal with it.

David writes that when we do that, He will keep us. The Hebrew word that was translated keep means to maintain to bear, understand, nourish and make provision. No matter the difficulty, how lenient or severe, the Lord will make the provision we need. He will nourish what is needed, will strengthen what is weak and give understanding to what is the purpose and end of the difficulty.

The surety is that the Lord will not allow us to waver. The word waver means to slip or stumble and fall. That’s Good News! When we hurl our difficulty, the Lord will provide what we need and will not allow us to fail. This means victory over the situation.

Peter wrote that the Lord would exalt us in due time. Due time is God’s perfect timing, when His will and purpose is fulfilled. God takes what the devil brings against us to work His will and purpose in us and all involved. We may not understand, but the Lord will give us even the understanding of spiritual things. God’s plans are given to us. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) In another Scripture Paul writes, “...having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,” (Ephesians 1:9).

In short, David knew that hurling our burdens on the Lord was filled with many benefits. He knew it. He experienced it. And he shared his wisdom in a song to be sung in worship to the Lord by the worshippers and by the people. We will never fail when we allow the Lord to deal with our difficulties.