00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
the Word of God. Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me
and hear me. I mourn in my complaint and make
a noise. Because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked, For they cast iniquity
upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is so repained within
me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness
and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, O that I had wings
like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then
would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness, Selah. I would hasten my escape from
the windy storm and tempest, destroy, O Lord, and divide their
tongues. For I have seen violence and
strife in the city day and night, they go about it upon the walls
thereof. Mischief also and sorrow are
in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof. Deceit and guile depart not from
her streets. For it was not an enemy that
reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that
hated me, that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have
hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal,
my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together
and walked unto the house of God in company. Let death seize
upon them and let them go down quick into hell. For wickedness
is in their dwellings and among them. As for me, I will call
upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning
and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in
peace from the battle that was against me. for there were many
with me. God shall hear and afflict them,
even he that abideth of old, Selah. Because they have no changes,
therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against
such as be at peace with him. He hath broken his covenant The
words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his
heart. His words were softer than oil,
yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved, but thou, O God, shall bring them down into the
pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall
not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee." Ending
the reading just there, at the close of the psalm, and we'll
read our text in Psalm 55, and it's the words of verse 22. Psalm
55, and the words of verse 22. It says, Cast thy burden upon
the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Cast thy burden upon the
Lord, and he shall sustain thee. The subject this morning is that
of the burdens of the believer. And the fact, brethren and sisters,
is Christians do have There's not a doubt about it. And I'm
sure there are those in this meeting, and you've come to God's
house this morning, and there's a burden, a very heavy burden
weighing upon your heart. The reality is, this world in
which we live is a world of burden bearing. And those burdens come
from all aspects of life. The burdens that we have to carry
come from home and family life, difficulties in the home, difficulties
and fallouts even among the family. The burdens that we have to carry
come from business life, perhaps things not going well, reversals
in business, difficulties, not getting the business that we
need to carry things on and to carry things forward. The burdens
can come from sickness, an unexpected announcement from the doctor
about our physical health, about our medical condition, news that
perhaps we'll have to go to the hospital for some operation or
to pass through a severe period of treatment. Burdens come from
bereavements. We've heard this morning in the
announcement of a family that has lost a loved one, and how
difficult, how bitter those bereavements can be. They even come from broken
relationships, families breaking up, friendships being lost, and
the pain that those things can cause to our hearts. And even
the work of God. There's burdens. Those of you
in places of leadership, those who are office bearers in the
church will know that there are heavy burdens to carry at times. as you seek to give direction
to the cause of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul spoke about
the care of all the churches. So, these burdens, they come
from all aspects of life. And maybe some of these areas
is where you fit in today. And let me point out to you,
brethren and sisters, that David had a burden. And that's something
that should encourage us Sometimes we think of David and the others
that we read of in the scriptures, that they didn't live the life
that we lived, that they didn't have the experiences that we
have. And that is certainly not the
case. David had a burden, and we should be encouraged by that.
If a man like David, a man after God's own heart, had burdens
in his life, then we ought not to be surprised when they come
our way and when they cross our path. Where did David's burden
come from? It came from the fact that his
own son, think of it, his own son had rebelled against him
and his closest friend, his closest counsellor and advisor had betrayed
him. And that's what this psalm is
all about. It's about that part of David's
life. You think, just for a moment,
Think of what you're tempted to do when those burdens come. There are many temptations that
cross your mind and come upon your heart. You're tempted, for
one thing, to carry the burden yourself. Do you remember when
Solomon was building the temple, that it talks about the bearers
of burden? And that's one of the things
we're tempted to do when there's a heavy weight on our shoulders.
The temptation is, well, I'll carry this. I'll just go on in
my own strength. But you'll be like those in the
days of Nehemiah if you try that. It says that the strength of
the bearers of burden was decayed. And your strength will soon be
used up and you'll stumble and you'll fall. Another temptation
is to quit, to just give up. There's no point going on in
the Christian life. There's no point going on in
the cause of God when there's all these problems, when there's
all of these difficulties. Isn't that what Peter did? Peter
decided, I'll go a fishing. I'll go away back to my old occupation. I'll not go on with this preaching
anymore. There's a temptation to quit.
There's a temptation to complain. And doesn't that temptation come
upon us so often? Do you remember what you read
about the children of Israel whenever they were in the wilderness?
It says they murmured. There's a murmuring spirit that
can arise even in the congregation of God. We can murmur against
the Lord. That's what they did in the wilderness.
It's not a fearful thing. They murmured against the Lord
and against his servant Moses. And when there's burdens, there's
difficulties, there's trials, when there's tribulations, we
point the finger of blame in all sorts of directions, and
we lash out with criticism. That's one thing we're tempted
to do. Another thing you're tempted to do when the burdens come is
to run away. Remember Jonah, the runaway prophet? He didn't like what God had asked
him to do, He packed his bags and he set off in the opposite
direction. You know, it's amazing just how
relevant this psalm is. It says in verse 6, just look
at the words carefully. He said, Oh, that I had wings
like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then
would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would
hasten my escape from the windy storm. and tempest. Is that how you feel today? You
wish your wings like a dove, you just can't face it anymore
and you'd like to fly away off just to some quiet secluded place. Another thing we're tempted to
do when the burdens come is just die. Lord, I've had enough. Just take me home. Do you remember
Elijah's sitting under the juniper tree. He wished for himself that
he might die. He just thought, Lord, I want
you to take me home to heaven. That's one of the great unanswered
prayers of the Bible. Isn't it good the Lord doesn't
always answer the prayers that we offer? There's times we just
think, I've had enough of this life, and I want to go home to
glory. But that's not always the Lord's
time. or the Lord's will. And there's one other thing I'll
suggest to you that we do when burdens come. That is, we wish
evil on the people that we think are the cause of them. Do you
see what he says there in verse 9? He says, destroy, O Lord. And then down in verse 15, he
says, let death seize upon them. We wish evil. We're thinking,
Lord, if you'd only judge these people, that would give me a
wee bit of satisfaction. You see, there's all sorts of
things you're tempted to do. And, brethren and sisters, I'm
sure if you're honest this morning, the temptation has crossed your
heart and upon your heart to do one or maybe more of these
things. And I want to stress to you this
morning that this is what not to do with your burdens. That's not the road the Christian
ought to go when the burdens weigh upon us. What I want to
do today is tell you what you should do with those burdens. In actual fact, what you're commanded
to do in God's Word. If you have a heavy burden and
if you have been crushed today under the weight of that burden,
then our text gives you the answer. It tells you how to cope, and
it tells you what you should do as a child of God. Let me just show you what we
should do with our burdens. The first thing that the text
teaches us is that we should consider the burden as from the
Lord. I'd like you to think about that.
The burden you have, whatever it is, consider that burden as
from the Lord. You look at the words of the
text. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. And that word burden, if
you have a Bible with a margin, you'll see for yourself, it literally
means gift. Cast thy gift, or that which
he has given thee. That's the literal rendering
of the word. Isn't that interesting? You might
even think of today as something that is strange. The burden you
have, it's a gift from the Lord. Did you ever see that truth before?
The trial, the disappointment, the loss that you've sustained,
it's from the Lord. His hand is in it. He is the
one that has permitted it. It's not fate. It's not bad luck. It's not a curse. that has come
upon you or upon your family, it's something that the Lord
Himself has bestowed upon you. And when you see it in that light,
doesn't it change the situation completely? The Lord's hand has
done this. Now, automatically, you will
ask why. Well, remember this, brethren and sisters, we don't
have all the answers. Always keep that in mind. The
Lord doesn't always tell us the reason why He does certain things. The Bible says the secret things,
God has secrets that He does not reveal even to us as people.
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God. The New Testament
says now we see through a glass darkly. We don't always have
a full and a clear vision and a clear understanding of what
is happening. The Puritans had a great saying,
we can't always trace the Lord. You can't always follow Him,
follow what He's doing. We can't always trace the Lord,
but we can always trust Him. And I'd like you to think of
that. Take it to heart. You can trust the Lord and what
He's doing. We don't have all the answers
to the question why. But let me suggest to you some
reasons why the Lord would give you a burden. One has to do with
our walk. Maybe you're not walking with
the Lord as you should. Maybe you're not as close to
the Lord as once you were, and the Lord wants to bring you back
to Himself. That burden that you've been
carrying, it has caused you to cast yourself upon the Lord.
It's caused you to pray more than you've done for a long time. Mr. Spurgeon said, anything that
causes you to pray more is a blessing. Isn't that right? Anything, even
if it's a trial, if it causes you to pray more, it's a blessing. Didn't David say, before I was
afflicted, I went astray? But now I have kept thy word,
and perhaps you were going astray. Perhaps you were wandering away.
Perhaps you were growing cold. And that's why the Lord gave
you the burden, because he wanted to bring you back again to himself. Another reason why the Lord gives
us a burden has to do with our worth, our worth in his sight. I had a younger brother who was
diagnosed at a very early age with muscular dystrophy. It's
an illness that affects the muscles. They waste away. From when he
was about seven years of age, he couldn't walk, confined to
a wheelchair, and he died before he reached his 18th birthday. That was generally the case with
those with that disease. They didn't live beyond 18 years
of age. Someone told my mother on one
occasion The Lord only gives handicapped children to special
people. That's an interesting statement.
There might be a wee bit of sentimentality attached to it. But I can tell
you this, brethren and sisters, the Lord only gives burdens to
special people. That burden that you have, it
indicates your worth. It indicates how much the Lord
values you. Remember, this burden you have
is a gift. And the Lord is like us. He only
gives His gifts to special people. It's not what you did at Christmas.
Those who were special, those who were precious to you, you
had a gift for them. Well, the Lord only gives His
gifts to those who are special in His sight. You think of Job. Why did the devil afflict Job? Because he was special. Because the Lord could trust
him in those circumstances. The New Testament says, it's
whom the Lord loveth that he chasteneth. And the things that
you're passing through, they're an evidence of his love for you. These are some suggested reasons.
why the Lord would give us a burden. But remember this, brethren and
sisters, remember that all things, not some things, not the good
things, not just the best things, the blessings in life, all things
work together for good. Whatever the reason the Lord
has for doing it, you can be sure of this. It's for your good. He has your good in mind. Paul
said, our light affliction Surely you got it wrong, Paul. If you
knew the burden that I was carrying today, it's not light. Our light
affliction, you see, in contrast with the weight of glory that
we're going to receive in eternity, what you're carrying today is
light. Our light affliction, he says it's but for a moment
in comparison with the eons of eternity. It's only for a moment. And he says it's working for
you. Don't have the mindset of Jacob
when he said, all these things are against me. That is not the
case. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, it's working for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. Consider the burden as from the
Lord. The second thing you should do
with your burden is cast that burden upon the Lord Now, what
the text says, cast thy burden upon the Lord. I was brought
up on a farm just a little bit south of Belfast. And even as
a child, we had a lot of burdens to carry on the farm. We had
buckets and barrels. We had milk cans and bags. And
at some times of the year, we had a lot of bales to carry as
well. And you know, there were times
those things were too heavy for me. As a young fellow, you wanted
to show off, show off your strength, and you thought you could just
lift anything. But there were times you had to acknowledge
you were beat. And maybe that's what you're
saying today, Lord, I'm beat. I just can't carry this burden
anymore. And you know, whenever that happened on the farm, I
needed somebody else to help me. I needed somebody else to
come and carry the burden for me. And more often than not,
that person was my father, my dad. Big, strong man. And, brethren
and sisters, the lesson is this. We can't, but He can. We can't carry the burdens ourselves. You need to acknowledge that
today. But the good news is, He can carry the burden for you. Our heavenly Father, can carry
the burdens. Isn't he the one that the Bible
describes as the Almighty? Doesn't the book of the Revelation
describe him as the Lord God omnipotent, no limits to his
power? And the message of the psalmist
here is, take your burden to the Lord. That's what you need
to do with that burden that you're carrying. He's the great burden
bearer. He's the one that upholds all
things. Doesn't he uphold this great
universe today? And I ask you, what's your burden
in comparison with the universe that he's upholding at this very
moment? The Bible says, come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And that promise is a promise
for the saint as well as the sinner. Believer, come to the
Lord today with your burden and cast it upon Him. Mr. Moody, in his Bible, the note
that he had written beside this verse, Psalm 55, verse 22, the
note he had written was literally, roll your burden on the Lord. That's the literal rendering
of that word cast. You're to roll it. Is that not
what you do with something? When it's too heavy? When it's
too heavy to lift? Too heavy to carry? You roll
it to the place you want it to go. When we were on the farm,
my father would often send us out when he had ploughed a field
or two. He sent us out to gather stones. It wasn't a very pleasant
job. It was the last thing you wanted
to do. Some of the stones were very big. Some of the stones
were too heavy, you could hardly even get your arms round them,
let alone lift them. And what we would do with those
stones is we would roll them. We would roll them where we wanted
them to go, roll them into the ditch or roll them into the link
box. And, brethren and sisters, I
say to you today, the message of this verse is, roll your burden,
that heavy weight that you're carrying, just roll it onto the
Lord, and He'll carry it for you. You ask, how do I do that? By prayer. You need to pray about
that burden. Do you know the reason why so
many Christians are weighed down onto the weight of their cares?
Do you know why that is? Because they never pray about
them. They don't come to the prayer
meeting and lay those things out before the Lord. Think of
Scriven's words. Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord. That's what you do with your
burdens. You cast that burden upon the Lord. And the last thing
that this psalm teaches you to do with your burden is to carry
the burden with the Lord. Remember, consider the burden
is from the Lord. Cast the burden upon the Lord.
But it also tells us here we have to carry the burden with
the Lord. The text says, He will sustain
thee. Isn't that interesting? You see,
the message is this. The Lord doesn't always take
the burden away. I'd like you to see that this
morning. The Lord doesn't always take our burdens away. Isn't that what we would want?
Isn't that what we expect Him to do? But you learn in this
verse that there are times that we still have to carry the burden. And let me say that maybe that's
what the Lord wants you to do. But you've no need to be afraid.
You've no need to despair because you're not going to have to do
it on your own. You're not going to have to do it in your own
strength. You've maybe tried that already
and you feel it. Notice what the text says. He will sustain
thee. Doesn't that make all the difference,
my friend? He's the one that's going to
give you the strength. He'll give you the power that
is needed for the days that lie ahead. There's a great promise
that is given in the prophecy of Isaiah. Fear thou not, for
I am with thee. Be not dismayed. For I am thy
God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. You asked this morning, how can
I go on? You asked me, how can I face
tomorrow? How can I face the future? How can I face the hospital
and the treatment or the operation or whatever lies before you?
Well, here's the answer. The Lord's going to strengthen
you. The Lord's going to help you. The Lord Himself is going
to sustain you and He's going to uphold you with the right
hand of His righteousness. Did you know that the blessings
that are given to the tribes are given twice in the Bible,
given twice in the Old Testament. The second of those times is
in the book of Deuteronomy. And whenever the blessing is
given to Asher there, it says, as thy days, so shall thy strength
be. And the meaning of those words
is this. The meaning is that God will give you the strength
that you need. to match the type of days that
you're passing through. He'll give you the strength you
need to bear the cross that you have to carry. He'll give you
all the power that you require. And let me say this, let me take
it even a step further. The Lord himself may even come
and carry you. Wouldn't that be a great blessing?
Henry Moorhouse, the very famous evangelist. He was a friend and
a contemporary of D. L. Moody. Henry Moorhouse, a
little daughter who was handicapped. And one day he came home and
he had bought a little present for his wife. And he came in
through the front door and he saw his little girl and he said,
where's mommy? And she said, mommy's upstairs.
He says, that's good. I want to take up this little
package. It contains a present. and bought for your mum. And
the little girl said, "'Daddy, let me carry the package to mamma.'"
And he looked at her in amazement, and he said, "'Daughter, you
can't even carry yourself. How are you going to carry this
package?' But she had the answer. She knew exactly. She said, "'Daddy,
you give me the package and I'll carry it, and then you can carry
me.'" And, brethren and sisters, there's times we carry the burden,
but then the Lord comes along and He carries us. And that makes
all the difference. You think of what the Lord says,
And even to your old age I am He, and even to whores' hairs
will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear,
even I will carry, and deliver you." What a promise that is. And I pray you'll take it to
heart this morning. The Lord sustains you. The Lord carries
you through the times of trial. You know the little poem, the
little story, Footprints of Faith, where they'd been making the
journey of life as if it were footprints on the sand at the
seashore. And when they'd come to the end
of the journey and they were looking back, the Christian just
saw at times, through the difficult times, the most difficult times,
just one set of footprints, and said to the Lord, why was that,
Lord? That when I was going through the fires of trial, there's only
one set of footprints. And you know the answer? The
Lord said, because at those times, I carried you. And that's what
happens, brethren and sisters. carries his people through the
tribulation. And I'd like you to see that
from this passage, even this morning. And let me say this
just by way of conclusion. The heaviest burden anybody can
ever bear is the burden of sin. I wonder, is that the burden
that you have brought on your shoulders to the house of God
today? You've come into this place and
you're weighed down under the weight of your sin. Well, remember
Pilgrim and Pilgrim's progress. He had a burden of sin. But do
you remember where he lost it? He lost it at the cross. And men and women, I urge you
today to get to the cross of Christ. It's the way of the cross
that leads home. Get to the cross and cast the
burden of your sin upon the Lord and be saved today. What a difference
that would make to your life. Here's what to do with your burdens. Cast thy burden upon the Lord
and he will sustain thee. May the Lord bless His Word to
every heart for Jesus' sake. 474, please. Days are filled with sorrow and
care. Hearts are lonely and drear.
The Burdens of the Believer
| Sermon ID | 1140783540 |
| Duration | 34:03 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Psalm 55:22 |
| Language | English |
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.