Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalms 55:22, CSB
It’s easy to read verses like Psalms 55:22 when life is calm and stable… It’s not so easy to believe them when your world is falling apart. Yet the truth remains.
When we are burdened, several choices assail us the moment we wake: will we wallow in bed while tears soak our pillowcase, will we immediately rise and numb ourselves through distractions, will we become introspective and choose how to think the remainder of the day – the possibilities are endless but nonetheless they confront us the moment we wake. Romans 12:2 details that the “renewing of your mind” enables us to discern the “good, pleasing, and perfect will of God”[1]. Casting your burden, renewing your mind – both require action.
Healing and sustainment do not passively occur in the lives of sufferers. Instead, action must prompt one to surrender the burden multiple times a day, and here one experiences the promised renewal. Earlier in the Psalm, David details the depth of his distress: “My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me. Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me” (v. 4-5).[2] Overwhelmed with anxiety and quivering with fear, it is only then that David declares that God will sustain him and will not allow the righteous to be shaken.
Jesus assured us that life would not be easy: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”[3] Psalm 55 does not promise that we will be at ease, but rather reminds us of Immanuel – God with us.
The God who is with us in our anxiety.
The God who is with us in our mourning.
The God who is with us in our weakness.
The God who is with us in our desperation.
He is the God who is there, and the God who does not leave us there. He meets us where we are and renews us and gives us incomprehensible peace.
Exposed 