Dead Weight

Today's Verse:

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. ~Psalm 55:22 

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Weightlifting is considered an important exercise regimen to build and strengthen muscle and bone mass. It is a very good means for developing endurance and building resistance against weakness. A dead weight is a term that describes a heavy burden that is holding someone back or down. All of us will encounter one or more times when a burden we carry is more than we can bear. In Psalm 55, David tells us about his heavy burden and how he dealt with it. 

We see the crushing reality. 

A burden is a divine appointment in our life. It is a heavy weight that crushes us under its load. We feel fear. “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 sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me” (vv. 3-5). We feel like fleeing. “And I 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” (vv. 6-8). We feel like fighting back. David asked that those fighting against him would be destroyed and put to death. Our burdens are a reality. 

We see the critical request. 

“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” (vv. 16-17). David made his request to the Lord. I remind our church that we must pray as if we are in a trial, or else God sends us trials to teach us to pray. David makes an urgent life-and-death request to the Lord. In his urgency David prayed, “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication” (v. 1). John Bunyan said, “Let thy heart be without words than thy words be without heart.” To make a critical request is to pour out our heart to the Lord. God wants to know we need Him. God wants us to see Him as the answer for our need. God wants us to know that, without Him, we are helpless and at complete risk of failure.

We see the comprehensive release. 

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (v. 22). David had to let the entirety of his burden go. He had to throw his heavy weight on the Lord. All of us tend to hold onto the weight when God wants us to cast it on Him. Peter tells us something similar when he said, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” All of our cares means all of them! All of our fears, worries, anxieties, burdens, and trials must be released and placed on the Lord’s shoulders. 

We see the confident result. 

“He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me” (v. 18). David was delivered in peace from the battle. He went from unrest to rest; from turmoil to peace; from defeat to victory. He saw that he was in the majority, and not the minority in his conflict: "there were many with me."

Are you at a place in life where you are being crushed by a dead weight? Take your burden, and give it completely to the Lord. Let Him give you release, peace, and victory. 

Have a weightless God Morning! 

Bible Reading Schedule: Numbers 28-30

#Psalms #Burden #Faith #Prayer #Trial