April 20, 2024

Psalm 55.22 

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

Whatever your . . . challenges, you need only to ask the One whose resources are unlimited.*

First Peter 5.7 conveys a similar message: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” There is a slight distinction between the anxieties in Peter’s letter and the cares in David’s psalm. Anxieties may come and go, but the word used in the psalm literally means “what is given,” or “lot” or “portion.” These cares are our daily burdens – the things that are such a part of our lives that we get used to carrying them. Maybe we don’t think of them as burdens – like raising our children or caring for our homes - they are just “what we do.”

David’s words are beautiful because they tell us that God wants to be a part of our everyday lives. There are people who manage to get through life without seeking God’s help but God wants to help us. He wants to share the load so it is lighter for us. The verse goes on to say that he will sustain, or “He will make you sufficient for it.”* Not only does he want to help us carry our burdens, he promises to supply us with the strength and the resources to do what we have to do.

Finally, David tells us that God will never let the righteous fall, or “never permit the righteous to be moved.” David doesn’t promise that God will give us immediate relief from our troubles, nor does he imply that God will remove them. But how comforting to know that he is eager to be the source of strength for the cares of life if we will let him!

He simply wants to be in charge, which relieves me of the great burden of trying to fix everything.*