Psalm 55, Psalm 55. Look again with me at verse 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. That word burden, it's a reference to a gift. A gift, that which is, if you look it up in your concordance, it's that which is given. That which we see is a burden. It's actually a gift.

In 1 Peter, Hold your place there in the psalm, but turn to 1 Peter 1. Look at verse 3 of 1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith and through salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And he goes on to say, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness. Heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. One of the old hymn writers said this, every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dock by the sun of love.

These things are given, they're given from above, given by way of his providence, given by way of his grace. Job said this, he said, the Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed. In all that, he gave and he took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Paul writing to the church at Corinth, there in 2 Corinthians 5.18, he said, all things, all things are of God. And during times of trial, times of difficulty, times of plenty, whatever the occasion, might we be found seeking Him, fleeing to Him, giving thanks unto Him, praying that He would continue in His mercies toward us. And for fresh supplies of mercy, expecting, expecting them. Asking in faith, we're told to ask in faith, nothing wavering.

Turn with me to Lamentations 3. Lamentations chapter 3. What is said of his mercies? Look at Lamentations 3 verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because his compassions, they fail not. They're new every morning. Great, great is thy faithfulness. Consider what he gives in a way of trial. And trials are the common lot of God's people.

We read no chastening for this present time seems to be joyous, but it's grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Trial and suffering are not pleasant. Rarely does trial and suffering bring joy at that time. It's difficult. It's painful. But when it's over, that's what he's saying here, when it's over, it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness. and godliness to those who have patiently endured it. Consider all that Joseph endured. Remember that?

By his own brothers, they faked his death, they cast him in a pit, they conspired to kill him, but then they determined it would be profitable for them to sell him. And he was sold as a slave. And later he would be falsely accused and imprisoned. But in time, in time God raised him up, second only to Pharaoh in the throne. Remember what he told his brothers? His brothers thought that he would take vengeance on them, didn't they? He said, you thought evil against me. He looked at his brothers. He said, you thought evil against me.

But God meant this for good. To bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. The burden, that burden is often, whether we can see it or not, a gift. consider the burden of the cross. With all the affliction and trouble, our Lord endured. And yet it was a gift of God.

That cup of sorrow that he drank is said to be given him by the Father. Back in John 18, after Judas had betrayed the Lord, Remember that when those men had came after our Lord with torches and lanterns and Simon Peter drew out his sword and he smote the high priest's servant, Malchus, cut his ear off. And when he did that, the Lord spoke to Peter and he said, put up your sword. Put your sword back in your sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, that which he hath given me, shall I not drink it?

His suffering and death was decreed by the Father for our sins. The death of the Redeemer, the death of our Lord, it was no accident. It was decreed, it was designed, it was determined in the covenant of grace from before the foundation of the world. And our Lord said, Shall I not drink? Shall I not drink it? Not only is He able to fulfill all that was written of Him, He's willing. He was willing.

Consider that which is given by our Lord to bring His people to a sense of sin, an acknowledgement of it, and to humble, to humble His people and cause them to return to Him. To cause us to cast ourselves upon Him. to acknowledge that all these things, all these things, whether we understand them or not, come from our Father, and to wait on Him, to see if He's determined to remove them from us, listen, in His time. Not only again, not only to wait, but to expect, to expect deliverance from Him. The Lord sent that prophet Nathan to David, and he told David, he said, David, thou art a man. He brought David to see his sin. And you know, it wasn't until that was revealed to him that David cried out and said against thee, and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.

Remember the prodigal son. He would have never seen the rich blessings of his father's house had he not went away into a far country. He had to be brought love. He had to be brought to know his sin. All of those things had to happen before he would return to his father and say to him, just make me, just make me a servant, make me a hired servant in your house. He was content just to be a servant.

Now his father said, no, that's not how this is gonna be, is it, huh? Put a ring on his finger, put a chain on his neck, clothe him, kill the fatted calf. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. Paul said, lest I be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. He said, for this thing, I besought the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And the Lord said to him, my grace is sufficient for thee.

For, listen, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take, listen to what Paul said, he said, I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessity, in persecution, in distress for this reason, for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, when I'm weak, He is strong.

Whatever the trouble, whatever the burden, we're to consider that as a gift. Listen to this command. He says this, cast it on him. Cast thy burden on him. Leave it with him. Let him do with it as he pleases. Leave it with him who works all things after the counsel of his own will.

We read in the scripture of the burden of afflictions, which, listen, those burdens and afflictions are sometimes heavy, aren't they? Very, very heavy. Again, no affliction is joyous, he said, but it's grievous. And some are heavier than others, aren't they?

Especially when they come in great numbers. I think I've told this before, but I remember years ago we were at the beach and there was a couple out there and a wave had knocked one of them down. And literally every time they would just about get back up on their feet, another wave. That's this life, isn't it? They just keep rolling. When grief, like what? Like a river, attendeth my soul. When sorrows, like sea billows, roll. They just keep coming. I think of Job. Remember that?

He lost his servants. And before that one servant could finish telling what had happened, another one came and said, you've lost your sheep. And another one came, and you've lost your camels. And another one came, and he said, you've lost your children. All of that in such a short period of time, a time of loss.

Or those times when the heavens We read in scripture times when heaven just seems like brass. Time of drought, time of silence, a time of what feels like unanswered prayer. A time when it feels like God will not hear us. Times when the burden of sin and corruption, a heavy burden, Truly a heavy burden under which God's saints groan.

Where's the relief? It's to look to Christ. It's to look to Him who has borne it. It's to look to Him who has taken it away. He says, cast thy burden upon the Lord. And then read on here in our text. He shall sustain thee. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He sustains his people physically. He sustains his people spiritually. And he supplies us with all things in this life and in life to come. He supports us in our trials and difficulties. He carries us. He shall sustain thee. Listen to the meaning of this word, sustain it. It could read this way. We could read this. He'll feed thee. He'll nourish thee. He'll hold thee. He'll receive thee. He will bear thee. He shall sustain thee. I think that word sustain is used about four times in scripture, including this one. Another one is that, remember that widow woman who sustained Elijah as the Lord commanded, huh?

With a handful of grain, just a handful of grain and a cruise of oil. And this is what we read in scripture, it said, the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruise of oil fail according to the word of the Lord. Sustained like the children of Israel when he gave them manna to eat and water to drink. Scripture says 40 years he sustained them in the wilderness. and they lacked nothing. Not one thing. Their clothes waxed not old and their feet swelled not. Miraculously preserved and kept by the power of God.

Paul writing to the Philippians, he said this, My God shall supply all your need according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. He'll supply all, all your need. To the Ephesians, he said this, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Well, again, here in Psalm 55, look at verse 22.

It says this, he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved, to be shaken, to be staggered as to fall, He shall never, this could also be read this way, He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved forever. To be moved by their afflictions to depart from His way. Listen, not by men, not by devils, not by anything from their spiritual state.

Not moved from the love of God, not moved from the covenant of grace, never taken out of the hands of Christ or taken out of our state of justification, our state of adoption, our state of sanctification, where He is. Nothing, nothing, nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. What are we to do?

Cast our burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Turn with me to another scripture. Cast your care, what are we to do? Cast our care upon Him. Look at 1 Peter. Chapter 5. 1 Peter, chapter 5. What we read in the Old Testament, we read here in the New Testament. casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Oh, that the Lord would enable us, cause us, to cast our cares, all of them, to cast my cares on him, to cast my worries on him, to cast my anxieties on him, to cast my concerns on him, to cast my fears on him, all of it on him, knowing this, what we just read here, he cares for me. He cares for me affectionately. cares for his people affectionately, having loved them from the beginning. He cares for his people watchfully. We read in scripture, he shall give his angels charge over thee. He cares for his people eternally. Would never be plucked, never. That's what scripture says, never plucked out of his hands. cast thy burden upon the Lord. Or as the hymn writer said, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Isn't that what God has done? Isn't that what God's done for us in Christ? The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And the Lord Jesus Christ bore that iniquity and He put it away, never to be seen again. Cast into the depths of the sea. How did He do that? Well, Scripture says He put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. In closing, I recently came across an article, Brother Henry's, and I think it kind of sums up what I'd like to have said this evening, but he said this. He said, I'm trying to learn what I've attempted to teach, that we are to take our burdens our cares, our anxieties, and our needs to the Lord, and leave them there.

Instead of worrying and fretting myself about all the things that concern his church, his missionaries, conferences, personalities, and a dozen other things, I need to pray about him. and do what God enables me to do and leave it all at His feet. If those things, if those works are not His work, we just let them go to pieces. But if they are His work, He'll attend to them. He'll bless them. It's wonderful how smoothly things go when we trust the Lord. It's our worrying and fretting that causes problems. When we come here to worship, pray, preach, and fellowship, everyone's lifted, and our burdens are laid down. And we find sweet rest in Christ.

But when we leave the service and seem to say, And we do that, don't we? Sometimes we don't even make it to the door. I've left my burden. I've left my burden inside. I'd better go and take it up again. It's not the way to trust God. The way to trust him, and I pray that he would enable all of us to do this, is to take our burden to the Lord and leave it there. All right. Isaac, come lead us in a closing here.