Throw Your Burden « Living Proof Ministries Blog
SO, this morning I opened up The NET Bible and read a large portion of Psalm 55. When I got to verse 22 – the verse captioned in the Spurgeon devotional – I sat tight on the NET translation:
“Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the godly to be upended.”
Maybe you’re visual, too, and right about now you’re picturing throwing. Like hauling off and throwing something as hard as you can. And maybe getting a little frustration and madness out of your soul while you’re at it. Maybe crying while you’re doing it. Even out loud.
Throw.
Before you’re tempted to hold it to your chest and suffocate yourself nearly to death with it.
Throw.
Then something else spoke to me. It was one of those 60, 932 scholars’ notes. The comment footnotes the word “you” at the end of the phrase “Throw your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” I’ll just cut and paste the note from my Bible software so you can see it for yourself.
“The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually.”
Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Ps 55:22). Biblical Studies Press.
Individually. We EACH have the invitation to throw our burdens upon the Lord and let Him sustain us. Not the “we” of us. The “you” and “me” of us. We also each have the responsibility. In other words, no one can throw our burden on the Lord for us. We can’t call in a relief pitcher. Don’t misunderstand. We can certainly call upon people to pray for us and with us and the New Testament adamantly tells us to carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) but listen. There is a difference between a burden that is entrusted for us in a season that we are to partner in sharing and carrying. Say, for instance, a long term illness or thorn in the flesh. But the part of the burden that we are inadvertently – even accidentally – playing God over needs to be THROWN, Girlfriend. The part we’re suffocating under because we’re no longer walking, we’re laying down with it on top of us, needs to be…
Thrown.
When we keep trying to figure out what would fix it, then we try that, and it doesn’t work so we wring our hands and go to the next fix, we need to throw it. We cannot be Savior. We know that because, Lord help us, we cannot even save ourselves.
via Throw Your Burden « Living Proof Ministries Blog.
[Great quote from that article isn't it? I (Jenn) mentioned this article several posts back. I wanted to try the "press this" feature of WordPress. Now, I just need to see what it looks like when I hit "publish". ]
2 Responses to “Throw Your Burden « Living Proof Ministries Blog”
It looks great…and sounds wonderful. Yes, I suppose we may have to daily throw our burden(s). Keep on throwing it over until it’s there to stay. Or as I’m saying this, another method has popped into my mind. A burden is very loyal, like a loyal dog. It keeps returning to its owner no matter how many times we try to loose it. Perhaps if we speak to it. Tell it that we are giving it over to a new owner because we are no longer able to care for it…no longer able to feed it as it has sucked us dry. Speaking words of love to ourselves letting ourselves know that we’ve done the best we can, and the only thing left to do is to speak out our desires as we hand over our undesireables to God.
We must tell ourselves that we no longer have need of our burden(s)…poverty, sickness, harsh environments…whatever they may be. “Here Lord, here is my burden. I no longer have need to cling to it. I give it to you, and I expect your best. I know that now I will have room to breathe, to grow, to heal, and to receive your good. I leave it with you with gratitude for the remedy and for your unfailing care and devotion to me. So it is.” Repeat as needed until it is no longer a part of you.
Wow, Jenn, thank you for bringing this out in me today. I was needing to release the burden of ‘how’ I could possibly move forward to my greater purpose and good, when I just don’t know what to do. Moment to moment, Jenn, moment to moment.
May Blessings be substituted for burdens,
Marianne xo
Moment by moment. It’s a journey and it’s in the journey (for now).
You’re welcome and thank you.