Crushed by 1000 Light Weights | Psalm 55

written by Jim Stern

Cast your burden on the LORD and He will sustain you. —Psalm 55:22.

Such an incredible invitation to deal with our issues in a completely different way!

I had a conversation with a ministry leader friend in South Africa last week. They regularly host teams from the States. He said one of his observations about Americans is that we are “addicted to busyness.” What a great description.

On occasion, they will have Americans stay with them for a year to two. The first thing he encourages them to do is breathe and de-Americanize their busyness.

Because I was born and raised in America, seeing the degree of our national busyness is hard.

The invitation from the psalmist is to deal with issues in a very non-American way. The invitation is to a different pace of life and a different solution. Let’s see how this works.

We are to “cast” our burdens. The Hebrew word for cast literally means to hurl, fling, or heave. Anytime I read the word cast, I automatically think of fishing. Casting a line in the water. I was deep sea fishing last year and had to cast a very large line. There is a heaving involved that I had not done before. So, I spent time practicing my deep-sea casting. (I never quite figured it out.)

Men will actually judge each other’s casting. There can be a lot of trash talking that happens if you aren’t good!

Then we are to cast our “burdens.” Burden is a great word.

A burden is anything that weighs you down. Burdens can be light or heavy. The weight of the burden is secondary – that it is a burden is primary. What we do with our light burdens we need to do with our heavy burdens. Do not be deceived into believing that just because a burden is light that you can handle it.

You know the phrase death by a thousand paper cuts? How about a new one, “Crushed by a thousand light weights”?

And we are to cast our burdens on the “LORD.” Remember, in the Old Testament when LORD is in all caps, that means Yahweh. And Yahweh is our Father. The One whom Israel called Yahweh in the Old Testament, we are privileged and blessed to call Father today!

And the name Yahweh carries significance for our burden casting. Our Father introduced the Yahweh name first to Moses in Exodus 3. Among other facets, the name carries the meaning of one who is faithful, one who will fulfill his word.

As followers of Jesus, sons and daughters of our Father, we have access to One who is Above All. We have someone on whom we can cast our burdens. But He is not just an excellent listener. He is Yahweh – the one who is faithful to deliver according to His promises.

So, we cast with confidence, strength, and clarity because of Him.

And then, after casting, we experience His stabilizing work in our lives. Burdens released to Him replaced by leg strength we don’t have on our own. The psalmist says, “And He will sustain you.”

The Hebrew word for sustain happens to be one of the coolest word discoveries I have experienced. The Hebrew word for sustain is “kuhl,” and is pronounced – cool!

That’s right!

So, we can restate this verse and say, “Chuck all that weighs you down on the One who is faithful and He will make you cool!”

Now, powerful verse. Great, great truths. Very easy to lose sight of and forget.

I continue to make three significant mistakes that this verse exposes.

1. I get out in front of the Holy Spirit and the pace of our Father. Launching out front on an issue, or multiple issues, is just easier than breathing, praying, waiting and moving accordingly.
2. I minimize light weights and then they pile up. I don’t usually get knocked out by one big weight, but I can get taken down by many light weights.
3. I do a terrible job of identifying specific burdens. My burdens can amass quickly, and I fail to take the time to list them. Then it is just a burden blob, and I don’t want to deal with it.

My choices, all three. Awesome. But the result is the opposite of experiencing my Father’s stability. I feel the unraveling. I feel the weight and hear the lies that I can’t make it through this.

What about you? How good are you at casting? How quick do you cast? How far do you cast? How often do you cast?

OR

How confident are you in your Father’s promises to take care of your burdens? That He cares for someone else’s burdens is great for them, but we can always find reasons to exclude ourselves from His love.

Every day presents multiple opportunities to cast. Overflow living happens as we learn to cast and cast and cast some more. You will know when you have cast far enough when your heart is turned from weighted down to held strong.

So cast on my brothers and sisters!