The Established Path of Discipleship

Burdens come more than they go. King David’s troubles often came from the hands of his enemies, but sometimes they came from his friends.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng (Ps. 55:12-14).

Most of us know the betrayal of friends. We forgive, we move on with our lives, or so we say, but there remains a nagging hurt. This emotional pain can grow into a recurrent heaviness, stabbing you every time you see that person.

Burdens come in many shapes and sizes with varying degrees of intensity: a friend’s betrayal, the death of a loved one, the struggle with indwelling sin, a prolonged illness, and a multitude of other products of a broken world. To all of these problems, David says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps. 55:22). When in prayer we cast our burden on God, he promises two things: he will sustain us, and he will never permit us to be moved.

When I was a young man, I went through a significant depression. For various reasons at the time, I could not seek professional help. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I clung to God’s Word. During that depression, God sustained me with Psalm 119:50: “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” Amid lingering sadness, God gave me life.

The second promise begs the question, moved from what? From what place of security will God prevent anything or anyone from moving me? You can answer that question with another question: what is our principal place of safety? Our most secure place is in Christ. We are children of the King, citizens of God’s kingdom, and nothing can move us. The Apostle Paul says:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor power, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

Although God often protects us from danger, sickness, betrayal, and death, many times he only sustains us through them. Safety, health, and physical life cannot provide lasting security. Our most secure place is God, “our refuge and strength” (Ps. 46:1). When the earth crumbles beneath our feet, we stand firm only in him and him alone.