Psalm 68:19-20, God Who Bears our Burdens.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
    who daily bears our burdens.

Our God is a God who saves;
    from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death."

Psalm 68:19-20

I’ve been pondering these words for two days now. Verse 19 really caught me off guard when I read it the other morning, “who daily bears our burdens.” I’ve been stewing on it and trying to understand what it means for God to bear our burdens, especially when most of my burdens are problems originating from my own sin.

The conclusion I have come to is that God knows our burdens and problems and worries and concerns, the things that keep us up at night, the things that gnaw at us all day long. He knows them, and he gives us the strength to handle them if we are leaning on Him. When we screw up or are rude, or get in over our heads in a particular situation, He knows and gives us the strength to take responsibility for our mess and to enter into redemption and restore relationships.

God walks beside us in this life because He is personal, omnipresent, and sovereign over each situation we find ourselves in. Therefore, He helps us to bear our burdens daily, because He is with us as we deal with our circumstances. He is there beside us, our silent companion, giving us strength to forgive, seek forgiveness, and admit our imperfections. His spirit indwells us and speaks truth to us. The question is, do we listen, and are we aware of His presence?

I’m still struggling with situations at work, and I am not always responding to them well. This means that I often find myself in a place of humiliation as I seek the forgiveness of others for my behavior. God calls us to do everything we can to live in peace with all people (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14). This means accepting that we are at fault, and that sometimes to restore relationships with others and with God, we need to admit it and apologize. Not easy, but God is there helping us to bear this burden of shame, and cheering us on as we do what is right by Him – living at peace with others.

Psalm 68:20 gives us the reassurance that God will rescue us. Sometimes this is taken out of the context of the Scriptures though. God doesn’t just rescue people because they say, “rescue me!” He rescues them because it is His will to preserve those who are following Him and His will. Hebrews 12:14-15 says, “¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” When we refuse to admit we are wrong we embrace bitterness and self-righteousness. Our righteousness can only come from God though, so refusing to admit fault and seek forgiveness from God and others leads us further away from God and holiness. But when we cast our burdens upon our Lord and Savior, confess our sins, and repent of them, we move back towards God and His holiness which brings us peace.

Of course sometimes this backfires on us. The person we are apologizing to isn’t willing to forgive, or insists on laying a guilt trip on us. This is where we need to lean on God even more and trust in His truth and word, and not the words of others. One of the pastors at my church said something during a sermon that has stuck with me for months now: “The One who made you, gets to define you. The one that created you gets to determine your worth.” When we are further hurt by someone, we must turn to God and allow Him to determine our value and give us an identity. These burdens are too heavy to carry alone, we need Jesus’ help and salvation to live in this world, and he does help, because he knows rejection, hurt, pain, and stress.

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.