Let us turn again to God's Word, turning to the book of Psalms, and I want to direct you to words that we find in Psalm 55. Psalm 55, a Psalm of David, and we'll read from the Selah in verse 19. through verse 22. It's interesting, isn't it? We have two Silas in this psalm, one back in verse 7 and then this other one in the middle of verse 19 and Silas seem to be connected really with music notations, the way in which they were to sing the psalms in the in the tabernacle, then in the temple. But they also indicate the need for a pause, and I would go on to say that as we pause we should stop and consider and take account of the words around the Silah. Well, reading here at verse 19, as I say, from the Selah through to the end of verse 22, and I think it emphasizes the significance of this following portion.

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." And really I want to center my remarks around the words that we have there at verse 22. A familiar portion I'm sure to many of you. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

But there's a connection between what we have at the end of verse 19 and these words that follow. There we read of the ungodly who have no changes, whereas the life of God's people is a life of many changes, mysterious changes, and at times changes that seem to be odd, and difficult to interpret and to understand changes that bring burdens upon the people of God and so we have that exhortation to cast these burdens upon the Lord. And I want to say something with regards to the believers' burdens in terms of their source and in terms of their design. where they come from, as it were, and the end, the purpose that they have in view. First of all, then, to say something with regards to the source of the believers' burdens, and the marginal reading does give us a clear indication as to the place from whence they come. because we're told that the word could have been rendered as gift.

Cast thy gift upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. God is sovereign and all that comes to us all the various vicissitudes of life, all the changes of life come under the sovereign hand of God. The experiences of his people are all appointed of the Lord. Think of the language of the apostle there at the end of Philippians chapter 1.

Unto you it is given, he says, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on his name, but to suffer for his sake. And Peter reminds us, doesn't he, of those troubles, those trials that come into our lives. It's no strange thing. There in 1 Peter 4 and verse 12, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. events, all the events of our lives are under God's hand.

And of course this is a psalm of David and we know how the psalms of David are so experimental because he's writing out of the fullness of his own heart and writing out of the various circumstances that the Lord in his providence brings him into. Often the title of the psalm tells us something with regards to his circumstances. And we see it in previous psalms there. In Psalm 52, which is a psalm of David, when Doag the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. And then again at Psalm 54, the Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?" So in the Psalms, and the titles as we know are part of the inspired text, as much a part of the Word of God as the verses that follow, and of course in the Dutch Bible the titles are really the first verse in each of their Psalms. But It's not always the case that we have a title to the psalm that tells us.

Then we have to look at the content, and the content will indicate to us, really, something of the situation that David is in, and I believe that that is very much the case with regards to this 55th psalm. It does appear that it was written at the time of Absalom's rebellion. That portion of scripture that we were reading just now. Absalom's Rebellion recorded in 2 Samuel and chapters 15, 16, 17, and 18. And how we see references to the situation even in the words of this psalm. David is praying. He says, at the beginning, give ear to my prayer, O God, And what does he pray for? Well, look at verse 9. He says, Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city, in Jerusalem. 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. Absalom had moved into the city. And it wasn't only Absalom, but also David's great friend, his counselor Ahithophel.

And isn't there some reference to Ahithophel in the words that follow? Verse 12, he says, 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 he 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." It does seem that he is referring to Ahithophel, who was in the conspiracy with David's son Absalom.

And yet how David is so submissive to the Lord in all these troubles, In chapter 16 of 2 Samuel we read of how the Benjamite, Shimei, was cursing David as he fled from the city. Look at the language that we have there in that 16th chapter then of 2 Samuel. Verse 5, when King David came to Bahurim, behold thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerar. He came forth and cursed still as he came, and he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of King David, and all the people, and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

And thus said Shimei, when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial. The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

Then said Abishai the son of Zeriah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zoriah? So let him curse. Because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David.

Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, And to all his servants, Behold, my son which came forth out of my bowel seeketh my life. How much more! Now may this Benjamite do it. Let him alone. and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him." For the Lord hath bidden him.

How David is submissive. He is wanting to discern something of the Lord and the ways of the Lord and the hand of the Lord in all these dealings. Well, here is a man, you see, who knew what it was to have many changes, all the mysterious ways of life. He was a child of God, and strange is that course that the Christian must steer, and perplexed is that path he must tread, as the hymn writer says. So it was with David, and it's interesting, because having spoken of the ungodly previously, there at the end of verse 19 he says, they have no changes, because they have no changes. Therefore they fear not God."

And again, we read of these, the ungodly, in the language of Psalm 73, Psalm of Asaph. What does the Psalmist say there? In the second verse, as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had won, I slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And then again at verse 5.

They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compassed them about as a chain, violence colored them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish. the ungodly prospering, their lives so pleasant, and the many trials and troubles that the godly know. Christ said in the world, in the world you shall have tribulation, be of good cheer I have overcome the world. And that comfort that we have here at the end of verse 22.

He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. And who are these righteous ones? They are the justified. They are sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

He is not unrighteous, no, not one. The only righteousness that can save a man is the righteousness of another, even the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that righteousness that Paul desired to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, he said, but that which is with the faith of God, the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, he says.

The blessed man. that is spoken of, remember, in the language of the 32nd Psalm, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed, not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Oh, that justified man. And remember how it's the the language of David there in Psalm 32 that Paul takes up in Romans 4 when he's speaking of the faith of Abraham. Abraham's faith was justifying faith. Abraham's faith centered in the Lord Jesus Christ, the justified one, the righteous one. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved, or the unrighteous, the unjustified, the ungodly. They have no changes, but that's not the lot of God's people. What are the changes then that those justified ones know? Well, there is of course the great change. There is the great change.

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. All must begin with a fundamental change. He must be born again, says the Lord Jesus Christ. And if any man is in Christ, He's a new creature. He's a new creation. His life is changed. He's now in that grace of repentance. His life has been turned about. His life has been turned upside down. His life has been turned inside out.

That gracious work of the Spirit, He has that faith. That faith that comes by the operation of God. He's a new man. there is the great change, he is a converted man but then his life is a life of changes he has many changes, he is involved in a conflict and he has to bring all of these conflicts to the Lord as it were, they are burdens to him It's because the unbeliever has no changes that he fears not God, but this man has the fear of God in his heart and the ways of the Lord. He cannot always understand the ways of God.

Remember the experiences of Job and the words that we find in that book, that remarkable book, and all that Job passed through. In Job 10, 17, he says, changes and wars are against me. Well, we read nothing of Job being a man of war. He's speaking surely of a spiritual warfare, when he says, changes, changes and war are against me. He speaks of God's troops, how they come together and raise up their way against me, and then camp round about my tabernacle, my body.

You think of all that he passes through, having lost all his possessions, having lost all his children. And then he's struck down in his health, although the devil cannot take his life. We see him, don't we, in the second chapter of that book, sitting among the ashes and scraping himself with a pot shirt. His body covets from, boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. All these things encamp around his body. What is a man to do?

Cast thy burden, cast thy gift upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. This is the only place where the believer can find any comfort, we know that. The gracious words of the Lord Jesus, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy. my burden is light. Isn't Christ's yoke God's gift? And isn't that oftentimes to the child of God something of a burden? Or the source of the burden, isn't it that that is from the Lord?

Those words we've already referred to at the end of Philippians 1. given not only to believe, to believe on the Lord Jesus, but to suffer for his sake. And God joins these things together. And we can't put us under what God joins together. And God joins together trial and faith. You see, what God has clearly brought together, the trial of your faith, being much more precious than the gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, is found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God puts things together.

Where there is true faith, there will be the trying of faith. Where there is the election, there will be the furnace. God chooses his people in the furnace of affliction, it says. Where there is the bitter cup, there will be the consolations, the comforts. Where there is the cross, there will be the crown.

This is what God himself has appointed. The victory that overcometh the worlds, even your faith, says the Apostle John. It is a comfort, isn't it? The Lord does deliver his people. Look at the language here. in the 18th verse. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many with me. And it's a perfect tense, it's a prophetic perfect.

Here is David, and the city really has turned against him. He's had to flee for his very life. His own son has come and usurped his position as king. His dear friend and his counselor Ahithophel is in the conspiracy. All is against him, it seems. But not really so. He hath delivered my soul. The deliverance had not yet come. It would come.

Absalom would be slain. And then, it's at the end of that 18th chapter in 2 Samuel, we have his tremendous lament. Oh, Absalom, Absalom, my son. He loved Absalom. What a man was this man, King David. And there, out of all his own bitter experiences, we find this text, cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Well, what is the design then? So to say, where the burden comes from, it's ultimately traced back to God himself and God's purposes, God's sovereignty. But what is the great purpose? What's the design here? Well, there is this in God's purpose, surely. He will move his people to pray. He will move his people to pray.

Remember how Christ spoke a parable to this end? that men ought always to pray and not to faint. The parable had an end, and the end was prayer, and the end of the burden really is prayer. And as God, through his servant David, gives the exhortation, cast thy burden upon the Lord, So there is to be that response. Verse 16, as for me, I will call upon God and the Lord shall save me.

All God's purpose is that we pray and we're slow to pray. And the Lord has to move us to pray. And the Lord has to bring into our lives those things that seem to be so contrary and so contradictory and so difficult. And then we have to sigh out our prayers to Him in the midst of our troubles.

But God has a gracious end in view. And prayer, of course, is his own ordinance. It's the way in which God accomplishes purpose. Does he not say there at the end of Ezekiel 36, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel? To do it for them. Oh, God will do it for them. But how will God do it? I will yet for this be inquired of. by the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them with men as a flock." And David, David proved the truth of it, didn't he?

The end of verse 18, there were many with me. There were many with me. Oh, there's the purpose of God, there's the precept of God. There's the precept of God. This opening part of verse 22 is in the imperative mood. It's a command. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. That's what God says. And it's a gift. Cast thy gift upon the Lord. And we're not to misuse God's gifts. We're not to abuse the gifts that God gives to us. we should be those then who would willingly come and pour out our souls and order our cause there before him and tell him all our complaints.

Remember how foolish the children of Israel were. God had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty arm and a stretched-out hand. He'd visited the ten plagues upon the Egyptians. He'd taken the children of Israel through the Red Sea and destroyed the pursuing armies of Pharaoh in that same Red Sea where he'd made a way for the children of Israel. And then in Exodus 15, we have the great song of Moses, Exodus 15.

And yet at the end of that very chapter, when we see them coming away from the Red Sea, they begin to murmur. They begin to complain. The bitter waters of Marah. The bitter waters of Marah. And then at the beginning of the next chapter, chapter 16, they're in the wilderness of sin, and they begin to remember what they had in the way of food when they were still in Egypt in bondage. And they yearn after going back there.

What fools they were. Oh, what fools they were. Too ready to complain and to murmur against the Lord God. We sang, didn't we just now, in our opening praise, that lovely hymn, one of William Cooper's hymns, 394, and the last two verses are so telling. Have you no words? Ah, think again! Words flow apace when you complain, And fill your fellow-creatures' ear With the sad tale of all your care. Where half the breath thus vainly spent To heaven in supplication sent, Your cheerful song would often be, Hear what the Lord has done for me.

That's what the children of Israel should have been doing at the end of Exodus 15, the beginning of chapter 16. Not complaining one to the other, but pouring out their complaints before the Lord, ordering their cause there at God's mercy seat. Oh, we're not to abuse in any way then what God gives us in the way of precepts. We should heed his words of command. And here it is, cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. James tells us, doesn't he, ye have not because ye ask not, and ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Now we need to come then and ask that God himself would help us in all our prayers to him. He has a purpose in prayer.

He gives us the command, the precept to pray, but more than that, more than that, he's a gracious God and he gives us his promise. All we have is promise. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. He shall never then fail His people, they are justified sinners. In Christ had accounted righteous before Him. We are to cast all our care upon Him, says Peter, because He careth for us.

He careth for us. What do we have here? We have the covenant name, don't we? Cast thy burden upon the Lord, that's Jehovah. That's Jehovah, capital letters here in our authorised version indicating what this name is, it's a covenant name. I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. He's the unchanging God, strangely his people know changes, the ungodly know nothing of changes. Not the sort of lives that the godly have to live. But God assures us I am the Lord, and of course the very name Lord here, Jehovah, is derived from what he says there in Exodus 3, I am that I am, the unchanging one, the same yesterday and today and forever.

The one who when he gave promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. He sware by himself. He has magnified his word, his promise above all his name. His word, his promise is as sure as God is himself. That's what it means. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Oh God grant that we might know the comfort of it. One feels One needs to address that word really to self, how often we are so full of that awful sin of unbelief. The Lord have mercy and grant us that gracious gift of faith, that faith of His own work and His own operation that we might come before Him with sincere hearts as we order our cause there at His mercy seat. While the Lord bless His word, We'll sing our second praise before we turn again to prayer. The hymn 961 and the tune Whitburn 435. Be still my heart, these anxious cares, to thee are burdens, thorns and snares. They cast dishonor on thy lord and contradict his gracious word. 961 tune 435.