Aug-12-0488-Cast your burden on the Lord
488_Cast your burden on the Lord Psalm 55:1-8 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 3 because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah 8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.” 16-23 But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. 17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. 18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. 19 God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God. 20 My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. 21 His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. 23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you. A well-known pastor had mentored a young man in ministry for several years. He had poured his teaching and his thoughts on life into him, trusted him, opened up his heart and his home. They prayed together, served side by side, and talked about their dreams of what God might do through their lives. Then one day that young man left to begin his own church, pulling in several people whom his mentor was pastoring. It became obvious over the next few days that he had been busy sowing seeds of doubt, division, and mistrust. The betrayal was all the more painful because of the trust that it exploited. The wounds inflicted by betrayal aren’t superficial. They cut deeper than adverse circumstances could, biting into the very heart. David knew that pain too, and it is reflected in Psalm 55. This psalm arose from a time of intense turmoil in David’s life—probably Absalom’s rebellion. His own son had sown dissatisfaction and rebellion against him, finally proclaiming himself the king and pursuing his kingly father’s death. Just as hurtful was the fact that Ahithophel, one of his closest and most trusted counselors, joined the conspiracy. Scripture tells us he was Bathsheba’s grandfather, and the unresolved bitterness from David’s sin against