"Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

"Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

"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.

"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.

"Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

"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.

"For 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 it 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.

"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

"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.

"He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

"God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. 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.

"But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee."–Ps. 55:1—23.

This is a world of burden-bearing. Sorrow and trouble come to all; they are not respecters of persons. The rich have their share of trouble as well as the poor.

"Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."–Job 5:7.

"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble."–Job 14:1.

"We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!"–Jer. 8:15. Some have to carry heavier burdens than others. Some seem handicapped and frustrated at every turn of the road. Some have little conception of the hidden burdens that others are carrying. Many a breaking heart is hidden by a smiling face.

Often the deepest and the heaviest burdens that men and women carry are those not seen with the naked eye.

There are burdens that have to do with the home. To most of us, home is sweet; but not to everyone. In many homes there are poverty, sickness, sorrow and dislocation.

There is the burden of unsaved children, or of a mother or father or husband or wife.

There are burdens that have to do with business responsibilities. Maybe where you work the people seem to be so wicked, so anti-God, so anti-Christ. All you hear all the day long is one filthy joke after another. People need to hear a word of encouragement on Wednesday night after fighting the Devil all day!

There are burdens in connection with the Lord’s work. Paul said, "Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches" (II Cor. 11:28).

You wonder how you are going to take care of all the financial obligations of your church and home. You wonder how to help all those backslidden folks. "Oh, how can I win more people to Jesus? How am I to handle all that criticism? How can I give enough time to my family and church–balance it all out?"

Many a young preacher works eight days a week. But when the church decides to run him off, the members totally forget that. I’ve never known a preacher yet who didn’t say, "If I had it to do over, I would spend more time with my family."

When it comes to the Lord’s work, you never arrive. Just about the time you think you have, there is something else to do. So do right by your family at the start because the work will always be waiting for you.

There are burdens that have to do with our friends. Our enemies don’t need to wear a sign saying, "I am your enemy!" We know who they are. It wasn’t an enemy that hated David; it was a friend.

Then there are physical burdens. Paul said:

There are also temperamental burdens, and sometimes these are the hardest to bear: fear, anxiety, worry, depression and even despair. Most of us have to work on these burdens all the time.

There is the burden of the loss of a loved one: husband, wife, child or parent. You don’t know how you’re going to make it through this time.

What about the burden of disappointment? You didn’t get that new job, that new car, that new house.

Girls are disappointed they didn’t get that special boyfriend. Most girls think they are standing at the Last Chance Station. Let the ugliest boy come by and wink at them, and they fall all over themselves. Listen now! God has just the right person waiting for you.

I’ve heard girls say, "Boy, isn’t he cute?" May I make an announcement? There is no such thing as a cute boy. You call girls "cute," not boys. If someone came to me after the service and said, "Brother Clayton, you sure are cute!" I’d say, "Put ’em up right now!" Those are fighting words!

Young man, you may be disappointed that you didn’t get her as your girlfriend. Thank God you didn’t, if she wasn’t the one God had chosen for you.

1. We are not to doubt God. "Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication" (Ps. 55:1).

How easily doubt assails when trouble comes upon us. But doubting God does not give us relief from our burdens. "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (I Tim. 2:8).

2. We are not to murmur and complain. "Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise" (Ps. 55:2).

There is a wonderful nugget in the Old Testament: "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?" (Lam. 3:39). The Bible has quite a bit to say about murmuring, but little is being said against it today. The root of the word complain means "a blow"; the heart of the word complain is "a blow against God."

First, because complaining is unmanly.

There is something satanic about grumbling. It soils lips that should "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Heb. 13:15). It is totally impossible to have a revival at any church where the spirit of grumbling is prevalent.

Who am I to put the Almighty God under cross-examination? Am I in a better position than He to judge what is and is not good for me? How far can I see into the future? Who am I to strike out against God?

Listen! One disfigures his manhood when he whines and whimpers. Even in the torment and crucifixion, Jesus never allowed that to happen to Him. First Peter 2:23 says, "Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." No wonder Pilate said, "Behold the man!"

Complaining is unmanly. God help me not to be a complainer because I want to be a man like Jesus.

Complaining is also ingratitude. Oh, how easily we forget God’s blessings! One day God blesses us; the next day we forget all about those blessings.

A politician met an old friend on the street and said, "I sure hope you’re going to vote for me."

The friend said, "No!"

The politician asked, "But was not it me who got your daughter a job when she graduated from high school? Wasn’t it me who helped you pay your hospital bill? So why don’t you vote for me?"

The friend replied, "Because you haven’t done anything for me recently."

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are like that politician’s friend. We forget God’s blessings so quickly. Psalm 103:2 exhorts, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." "All his benefits" includes all His blessings. All ingratitude is un-lovely, but especially unlovely in Christians.

There is no relief from our burdens in complaining and self-pity.

3. We are not to despair in the midst of our burden. Despair will not lift one burden. David was in the depths of despair when he said: "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" (Ps. 55:4,5).

A desire to escape the burden will not help us in our burden-bearing. David pined, "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" (Ps. 55:6,7).

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever looked out the window and watched the little birds and said, "Oh, if I could just wing like those little birds, I could fly away into the wilderness and get away from everybody and everything"?

There is one thing wrong with that: you don’t have wings. So you might as well face it. You cannot escape, and there is no relief from a burden by just wishing you could fly away from it.

We are told to do three things with our burdens: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Ps. 55:22).

1. Accept the burden from the Lord. The word burden literally means "that which he hath given thee," or it can mean "gift."

Did you ever think of burdens as a trust from God? as a gift from God? That trial, that disappointment, that loss–is that God’s doing? Oh yes, dear child of God, He has permitted it. He has trusted you with it for a very wise and loving purpose.

If something comes from the Devil, it only comes with the Lord’s full permission. He allowed it; therefore, accept it from His hands. The Devil cannot do anything to us unless he gets a permit. That should make you feel better. Where is that found in the Bible?

It would be terrible if someone came to my door and said, "Brother Clayton, you have lost one of your children." But Job lost all of his, and all of his wealth in one grand swoop. Yet he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord"!

But here is the key:

In Psalm 55:19 David said, "God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God."

How slack we get sometimes, and how easily we forget Him and lift up ourselves when things go smoothly and there are no changes, no problems. Thank God for the changes and the problems because they help us see ourselves and God in a better way.

Your burden–whatever it is–will you accept it from the Lord? Will you take it from His dear hand as a way for you to know Him better?

2. Let the Lord carry the burden for you. Since the burden is too heavy for you, give it to the Lord to carry.

The word cast literally means "fling or hurl." It requires and denotes action and effort. "Fling" that burden upon the Lord! "Cast" that burden upon the Lord! Or as they say in Texas, "‘Chunk’ that burden upon the Lord!"

Daniel 6:16 tells us that they cast Daniel "into the den of lions." The king’s men got Daniel by the nape of the neck and flung him into the lions’ den. It took some action on their part, but they did it.

Jonah 1:15 tells us, "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea." The sailors got Jonah by the nape of the neck, and they hurled him into the sea. It took some action on their part, but they did it.

Matthew 4:12 also uses that same word: "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee." The guards got John by the nape of the neck, and they "chunked" him into prison. It took some action on their part, but they did it.

That word is found again in Revelation 20:10: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone." Jesus is going to get the Devil by the nape of the neck and fling him into the lake of fire and brimstone. It will take some action on Jesus’ part, but He will do it.

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righ-teous to be moved" (Ps. 55:22). Hurl that burden upon the Lord! Fling that burden upon the Lord! "Chunk" that burden upon the Lord! It will take some action on your part, but you can do it! ‘Cast your burden upon the Lord!’

The Bible teaches that the Lord is the great Burden-bearer. His gracious words to the saints are: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (I Pet. 5:7). How wonderful to know that Jesus cares!

3. Leave the burden with the Lord. In our weakness we may prove His strength and the all-sufficiency of His grace. Learn this lesson: we cannot, but He can!

Paul tells us that he had a heavy burden. He tells us from whom it came, why God permitted it, how he prayed for it to be removed, and what God said to him:

Once we have cast our burdens upon the Lord, He assumes full responsibility for the burdens for us, and He promises to sustain us and to uphold us. How wonderful this is!

He shall sustain thee and more: "He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved"–NEVER!

I like the old song that says, "Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary; Jesus is very near"!

I’ll never forget Brother Jack Holcomb, who lived in Waco, Texas. He is in Heaven now, but he was a great tenor. I don’t think he ever wrote a song, but he could pick up any songbook and start singing. He had a tear in his voice, but you could understand every word he sang. He would sing awhile, preach awhile, then go back to singing.

One time while at my church he told about his little girl. One night after supper, but still sitting at the kitchen table, his little girl somehow fell out of her high chair, hit her head on the floor, and died.

Before the funeral service, a tornado went through downtown Waco, killing many people and destroying many buildings, including the funeral home.

Brother Holcomb said, "When the storm passed by, I went down to the funeral home. In the midst of all that wreckage and debris, I couldn’t find my little girl’s body. I bowed my head and prayed, ‘O Lord God, please, I know my little girl is safe in the arms of Jesus, but I sure would like to bury her body. Would You help me find her?’

"While I was praying, the Lord impressed me to get in the car, drive to the cemetery out on Interstate 35. When I got there, hundreds of others were there. Caskets of people killed in the tornado were lined up. I walked down that long row of caskets and found my little girl."

As soon as he ended this story, he broke out singing:

Sometimes we think we have it bad. But look around. You will see folks who have it a lot worse.

I’m asking every Christian who hears me now: Whatever your burden is, will you cast it on the Lord? Find the altar and unload it. It’s too heavy for you, so let the Lord carry the weight of it.

I say to the unsaved: Jesus carried that burden of sin to the cross for you. All you have to do is claim your pardon tonight and ask Him to forgive you. Come to the altar and unload that burden of unforgiven sin and ask Jesus to save you, and He will. Be relieved of that burden once and for all.

Cast your burden upon the Lord. Let Him carry the load. It’s too heavy for you. Take the Lord at His word, believe that He meant what He said; then cast your burdens upon Him, knowing that He loves you and will lift that load.

What a wonderful verse of instruction the Lord has given us: