Psalm 55.22 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will
sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. (ESV)
Sometimes, the Bible makes outrageous statements – well,
no, often. The verse above is an outrageous statement. It isn’t outrageous
because it isn’t true, it’s outrageous because it flies in the face of
experience of man and the generally accepted convention of the world which
replies: Oh yes He will!
I have heard it said we should never say, never. Maybe that’s true but when God
says never we should listen. The charge
against God by most is: He doesn’t do
what He says He’ll do – He makes bold and outrageous statements He either can’t
or won’t back up with action. That’s why when most pray there is no
expectation that their prayer is heard or responded to. Praying, for most, is
like trying to get the government to do something – they may or may not get
around to it. Probably not.
The invitation in this verse is to take our burdens to
the Lord and He will sustain us; He’ll carry the weight. Our problem with
verses like this is we sometimes don’t get the response we want or
circumstances don’t go the way we think they should. But we can only approach
the truth with our half of the story – our perspective and understanding; and
half is only half.
What does it mean we
won’t be moved? Does this mean our locale will never change? Does it mean
our circumstances won’t change? Does it mean life will always be peachy with
soft and gentle breezes, and few (if any) ripples on the pond? Heavens no! Life
is life with all that comes with it. But the righteous will never be moved from
the pleasure of God’s love for them.
That’s it Paul; that’s all ya got!? What about cancer
and divorce and war and famine and all the rest? What happens then!? Where is your
God in all of these things!!!?
He’s right where He’s supposed to be: caring for His own who believe in the best when life serves
them up the worst; who believe that
the story doesn't end here as many so desperately want to believe. We, who call
upon the Lord, are never alone and are never in strange circumstance to Him – as
He is supposed to be, we are as well: right where we’re supposed to be. And
when life serves up its stuff we get to bring it to God; the unbeliever just
gets to hang onto it. The believer’s problem is God’s problem. The unbeliever’s problem
is only his own.
The half is not the whole but if I only get half then I’ll
take this half: Cast your burden on the
Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
I’ll take God’s half and all that comes with it. I’ll take knowing I am cared
for in what appears to be the worst of things so that in living this life
faithfully, I’ll someday get the best of things. That’s called hope, and the
hope I hold onto today is this: Cast your
burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous
to be moved. Bring it on world, I got God!
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