"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.
 
I. WHAT KIND OF BURDENS DO PEOPLE CARRY?

(1) 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.

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

(3) 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!

(4) 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.

(5) 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.
 
"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."  Ps. 55:12—14.

We don’t make very many intimate friends in a lifetime, so the ones we have,
we had better treat right. In old age intimate friends are hard to come by.

(6) Then there are physical burdens.
 Paul said:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."  II Cor. 12:7.

Some have been sick for a long time. They wonder how much longer they can
take it. Oh, all the physical burdens in our church!

(7) 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.
 
(8) 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.

(9) 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.

II. THINGS WE SHOULD NOT DO BECAUSE OF OUR BURDENS

(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."
"Do all things without murmurings and disputings."–Phil. 2:14.
"Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the
destroyer."–I Cor. 10:10.

Why is complaining so vicious in content today? Why is it such a blow against
God?
    1. First,  because complaining is unmanly.

"Wherefore doth a living man complain…?"–Lam. 3:39.
"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."–I Cor.
16:13.

You are God’s creation. Grumbling and griping are unmanly. You are a man, an
heir of salvation, saved by grace through faith. You are God’s workmanship,
created in His image. And grumbling does not become your manliness.
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.

    2. Second, 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.

III. WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH OUR BURDENS?

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?
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that
there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that
feareth God, and escheweth evil?
"Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all
that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his
substance is increased in the land.
"But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse
thee to thy face.
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only
upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence
of the Lord."  Job 1:8—12.

Job was a wealthy man. But he lost everything–all of his possessions and his
children.
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:
"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
"Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."  Job 42:5,6.

No matter how much we have heard of God, our burdens make us see Him in a way
that nothing else can.

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:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong."–II Cor. 12:7—10.

Your burden, whatever it is, will you cast it upon the Lord? It’s too heavy
for you, so will you let Him carry it?
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:
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust and never doubt,
He will surely bring you out;
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

As soon as he finished that song, he started singing:

Singing I go along life’s road;
Praising the Lord! Praising the Lord!
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

With all Brother Holcomb had been through, he trusted the Lord and kept on
singing.
Sometimes we think we have it bad. But look around. You will see folks who
have it a lot worse.
 
IV. WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR BURDEN?

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:
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never
suffer the righteous to be moved."  Ps. 55:22.