Sermon notes from Sunday 1 January 2017
Psalm 55
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee, he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
We always begin the year by looking at our motto verse. It is not something to be put up somewhere but it is much than that. It is a promise God has given to us that we might depend upon, stand upon and take us through many difficult situations. As we gaze on the motto verse we know God is able to do what he he says in this verse. God is still in control. In verse 16 the tone of the Psalm changes. The Psalmist begins in verses 1 to 9 by pouring out his complaints. Here is a man who feels so hard done by, he has had so many personal encounters. In verses 9 to 15 he still is in the mood of prayer but rather than complaining he now prays against his enemies. He prays that God would deal with those enemies. In these verses he speaks of a very close friend who walked with him to the house of God and wrestled with him in prayer. The Psalmist decides to take every problem he has and cast it on the Lord because the Lord has invited him to do so. Maybe there is a burden, a difficulty you are bearing. Somehow it seems so dark, somehow it seems so deep that you feel you are never going to get through it. The Lord says to bring it to him and cast it at his feet. None shall escape those burdens. They will come. We see some of the greatest Christians down through the word of God and in the world today who had similar burdens. I often say those with the biggest smiles on their faces are those who carry the biggest burdens. I want us to think of the burden today. A burden is something that is wearisome, heavy and hard to bear.
This is a permitted burden. God allows the Psalmist to have a burden and he allows you and me to have a burden too. It is not to bring us down, to break us or turn us away but rather to bring us closer to the Lord. I take great comfort and knowledge when a problem comes into my life in knowing that God has permitted it. He doesn`t allow anything to come into my life without his say so. He knows every detail of your life. He has looked at the problem and allowed it. Israel had a burden - because they turned their backs on God, God allowed the Assyrian army to come down and carry them into captivity. We read also of Judah, the southern tribes of Israel followed Israel and turned their backs on God too. God allowed Babylon to come and take them into captivity. There are other burdens which are not because of sinfulness. Don`t think this is God`s punishment on you because you have sinned somehow. Job 1 verse 6. Job was a man who trusted God yet here we read that one day Satan came into God`s presence to discuss Job. In the book of Revelation it says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Satan comes to criticise Job. He is the one who criticises in the ears of God all that Job was doing on earth. In verse 8 we read of God`s own testimony of Job "there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil." Satan replies "if you would allow me to attack him you would see what is in him. He would curse you." Verse 11. In verse 12 the Lord gives permission to Satan "so Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord". He had been in God`s presence and God allowed him to bring a burden on Job`s life. Whenever we are being weighed down by every burden it is a difficult thing but we can be sure that the God of heaven knows all about it. God told Satan "you do what you want but don`t touch his life." Verse 15 what a burden this was. A man who owned a great farm of land had all of it taken from him in a second. Verse 16 now his sheep were gone, his livelihood was dwindled away. Verse 17 first it was the oxen then the sheep and now the camels. In verse 18 we read his own family is also taken. Within the space of a few hours everything was taken from him. Why? Because God permitted it. Chapter 2 - is the devil content? Not a bit of it. The devil comes again into the presence of God. He brings the same accusation in verse 5 against Job. He has taken away his livelihood, his wealth and his family and now he is sitting on his own. The devil tells God it is not enough, you come with sickness and he will curse you. Verse 6 "behold he is in thine hand but save his life." What did Satan do to Job? He smote Job with boils from his feet to his head. The devil is strong but the Lord is mightier. He was able to come in and go into his home. Took his family away, his livelihood and then touched his body. All he could do was try and get some ease from his body. Isn`t it terrible to imagine what he was thinking through all of this? To crown it all off his wife come to him in verse 9 and her advice is "curse God and die". Not much encouragement to Job at this stage. This as the burden the Lord allowed him to carry. God allows us a burden to bring us closer to himself. A permitted burden. Maybe God will allow a burden to rest upon our shoulders to test and try us, to help to prove that he is able to carry us through.
A privileged burden. God saw the Psalmist bearing under the burden. Remember when Jesus said "come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Why not cast your burden on the Lord today. He knew the burden the Psalmist was under but he also knew the cares the Psalmist had too, He knows the size of it, the weight of it, where it comes from. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13. Paul wrote to a church under great pressure and difficulty. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it." Sometimes the devil is good at that. Things are sore and hard on us. The devil gets us into a corner and tells us you are the only one suffering, everyone else is having a great time. Paul goes into the fellowship and says there is no temptation fallen unto you but God is faithful. He will not suffer you with the temptation but will also make a way to escape that you might be able to bear it. With the burden he has provided a way of escape. One day that way will come. It is coming. That is why it is privileged. God wouldn`t allow Satan to touch his life. Job said he knoweth the way that I take. "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous".
The purpose of the burden. If instructions are to be followed it will bring him closer to the Lord - why - because he has to cast them on the Lord. That is the purpose you are carrying today, to make you more dependent on the Lord. If we could handle it alone I wouldn`t need the Lord. Sometimes we find that hard to take in. Mary and Martha were 2 sisters who had a brother Lazarus. Lazarus was sick. When sickness comes into the home it is a heavy burden and affects everyone. Mary and Martha`s brother Lazarus died then the Lord tarried his coming. What a tremendous burden that was to bear. Jesus spoke to his disciples about this burden "this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God" (John 11 verse 4) Here was the burden in the home of Mary and Martha. The purpose was to glorify God of heaven. That heavy burden was to bring glory to God. How can that be? God would reach through this situation. As Jesus called him from the very depths of dead he told Lazarus to come forth and he stepped forth. "then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him." (John 11 verse 45) That was the purpose of this time of sickness. He didn`t want to break Mary and Martha`s heart. Was this an attack of the devil because they had sinned? No it was to bring people to know Christ personally. Jesus saved many that day because they believed on him through Lazarus. See what is coming out of this home. Glory to God in the salvation of many souls. All began with the burden on 2 sisters. Isn`t that what happened to Joseph yet he was able to say "God meant it for good"?
This is a personal burden. You are bearing a burden no one knows anything about. God knows all about it. Take it, lift it to him today and he will sustain you.
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