1. Those of the flesh; such as, natural weakness, sickness, pain, sensual desires, corrupt affections, wasting toil, poverty.

2. Mental burdens: ignorance, mystery, knowledge; for "he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."

3. Social burdens, or burdens of the heart. Their name is legion.

4. Spiritual burdens. That of sin, of spiritual desertion, of fear.

II. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS — We have to cast our burdens upon the Lord.

1. We may do it. He "will not break the bruised reed, nor," etc.

2. Help in bearing our burdens is sure, if we seek aright. "He shall sustain thee." He does not promise to rid us of the burden but to sustain us under it, and that is better still. So was it with Paul. "My grace is sufficient for thee."

(J. M. Sherwood, D. D.)

1. They are burdenbearers. Who are not included in these? They differ from one another in all variety of ways, but all are alike here.

2. These burdens are very various. No two are exactly alike. God appoints them to each of us according to His own loving wisdom (Psalm 31:7). God never makes a mistake.

II. THE DUTY ENJOINED. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." There is One on whom we may cast our burdens, even the Lord. But men turn to other expedients. With what success let Isaiah tell (Isaiah 29:8). How are we to fulfil this duty?

1. By telling God all about our burden.

2. Asking His help to bear it.

3. Submitting to His will in reference to it.

III. THE PROMISE BY WHICH THIS DUTY IS URGED. "He shall sustain thee." God does this sometimes —

1. By removing the burden.

2. By sustaining the burden-bearer; not removing the burden, but upholding those who have to bear it.

(R. Newton, D. D.)

II. WHAT IT IS FOR THE AFFLICTED TO CAST THEIR BURDENS UPON THE LORD.

1. It implies a realizing sense that God has laid their burdens upon them.

2. They cannot do this without acknowledging that God has a right to lay their burdens upon them.

3. This implies entire submission to the conduct of God, or a willingness to endure the burdens which he pleases to lay upon them (Micah 7:7; Job 1:21; 2 Kings 4:26).

4. This farther implies casting themselves upon the Lord, which is the essence of the duty enjoined in the text. Men cannot lay the burdens which they feel, upon God; nor can God take to Himself the burdens which He lays upon them. But they can cast themselves upon the Lord, which will afford them immediate support and relief under their burdens. When the general of an army lays a heavy burden upon an obedient soldier, he may cast himself, and consequently his burden, upon the general, by saying, "Sir, this appears a burden too heavy for me to carry. But you know what is proper to lay upon me. I am your soldier; my strength and my life are at your disposal. It is your concern to improve my strength and my life for the public good. And if it be best that my strength should be exhausted, or my life sacrificed, at this time, by bearing this burden, I have nothing to say; I cheerfully submit." Just so the child of sorrow may go to his heavenly Father and say, "My burden is great, and it seems I must sink under it. But Thou knowest what is best. I am in Thy hand as the clay is in the hand of the potter. Nob my will, but Thine, be done."

III. WHAT EVIDENCE THERE IS THAT GOD WILL SUSTAIN THEM.

1. There is ground to believe that God will sustain those who cast their burdens upon Him, because He laid their burdens upon them to show their weakness, and make them take hold of His strength.

2. Those who cast their burdens upon the Lord are properly prepared to receive Divine support and consolation.

3. The glory of God requires Him to support those who look to Him for strength or relief under their burdens.

4. God has promised to afford all proper support and relief to those who come to Him with their cares and burdens, and place an unshaken confidence in His faithfulness.IMPROVEMENT. If God will sustain those who cast their burdens upon Him, then —

1. Burdens may become the means of great good.

2. The greatest burdens may become the most beneficial.

3. The afflicted never have any reason to murmur or complain under the burdens which are laid upon them.

4. The afflicted never ought to faint and sink under the weight of their burdens.

5. It highly concerns them to call upon His name.

(N. Emmons, D. D.)

II. THE TRIALS OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN.

1. Those which he bears ill common with all men. Sickness, poverty, bereavement.

2. Those peculiar to the class to which he belongs. The prevalence of sin in the world, the difficulties attending the diffusion of Gospel truth, and the temptations which militate against a godly life, are burdens which all Christians are to bear in common.

3. Those which are restricted to him exclusively as an individual. He has his individual hopes and fears, his individual strength and weakness, and his individual pleasures and sufferings.

III. THE DUTY OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN IN VIEW OF HIS TRIALS, "Cast thy burden on the Lord."

1. The possibility of relief. The "burden can be removed. This is true of all his burdens.

2. There is but one way of obtaining this relief. By casting it on the Lord.

3. This one way of relief requires a personal effort. "Cast."

IV. THE ENCOURAGEMENT WHICH IS GIVEN TO THE RIGHTEOUS MAN TO CAST HIS BURDEN ON THE LORD. "He shall never," etc.

1. The Lord's ability to sustain.

2. His willingness to sustain. He is a God of mercy

3. He has made great arrangements to relieve man of his burden. In His providence, in His word, in His Church, and in the agency of His Holy Spirit. Then east thy burden upon Him, O my soul, and He will sustain thee.

(P. L. Davies, M. A.)

1. Temporal burdens.

(1)Affliction.

(2)Disastrous providences.

(3)Poverty.

(4)Domestic troubles.

2. Spiritual burdens.

II. THE DIRECTION. "Cast thy burden," etc.

1. In confident faith.

2. By constant prayer.

3. By cultivating a devotional frame of mind.

III. THE PROMISE. "He will sustain thee." —

1. By imparting increased strength.

2. By the removal of our burdens.

(T. Smith.)

1. Unnaturalness. We are not born with burdens. Have angels and innocent beings a heavy burden? I trow not.

2. Oppression. A burden presses one down. Life's burden often presses heavily on all the powers of one's nature, corporal, mental, and moral. Christ saw the race "heavy laden."

3. Obstruction. How a burden retards the traveller's progress. By reason of the load that presses on us we cannot move on in the path of life.

II. EVERY HUMAN LIFE MAY HAVE ITS RELIEF. "Cast thy burden on the Lord."

1. The Lord will bear the burden. He will bear it, either by removing it altogether, or by imparting strength more than equal to its pressure.

2. There is a method of transferring the burden. The more the confidence the more the burden is transferred. God is more than a counsel for our legal embarrassments, more than a physician for our diseases, more than a father in whom to repose all our concerns.

(Homilist.)

1. There are some types of burden in which the refuge of flight will be found to be a rare and splendid defence. "Flee youthful lusts." In these matters flight is the only method of salvation. Get away from inflammatory books. Give up inflammatory companionships. "Flee from idolatry." Do not take part for a moment in the temple worship of an alien god. Do not sit in the temple of Mammon. Do not play with worldly maxims. Do not think there is security in partial worldliness, in a moderate compromise.

2. But the majority of burdens cannot be disposed of by the method of flight. We have no resources but to cast them on God. What becomes of them when we take them to the Lord? There are some burdens which pass away, even while they are being recounted. They evaporate in the telling! To talk about them to God is to lose them! If you take a dimmed, steamed mirror into a dry, sunny room, the obscuring veil passes away, and the mirror becomes clear. And there are some burdens which perplex the spirit, and hinder its outlook, which, when we take them to the Lord, pass away like mist in the sunny light of the morning.(1) There is the burden of fearfulness. What is this burden except the lack of assurance? The depression is born of uncertainty. The soul moves in fear, because it does not feel the presence of God. The lack of assurance breeds the restless offspring of anxiety, fretfulness and care. Now, this is one of the burdens which evaporate in the telling. Fearfulness is always the companion of little faith. If we have triumphant faith, fearfulness is abolished. "Perfect love casteth out fear." While we are talking to our Father, the sweet genius of assurance returns. Our faith awakes. Our love revives. The heart grows calm in spiritual fellowship. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord," and, even while thou art telling it, the burden will disappear.(2) There is the burden of perplexity. Here, again, is a burden which frequently disappears while we are describing it. If we take it into our Father's house, even if it does not pass entirely away, it will be so eased that it will not crush us like an iron garment. We shall have freedom of movement. It is a beautiful experience in the lives of the saints that, when they take their burden to God, they frequently find the clue even while they are bowed in prayer. "In Thy light shall we see light."(3) There is the burden of guilt. No man can reverently and penitently take this burden to the Lord without losing it. It goes in the telling of it. "Father, I am no more worthy to be called Thy son, make..." "Bring forth the best robe." "So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up to the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulder, and fell from off his back. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord."

3. There are some burdens which are not removed even when we take them to the Lord. They do not disappear in the telling. Is there some other gracious ministry of the loving Lord? Yes, if the burden remain, the bearer of it will be strengthened (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Some burdens are permitted to remain. Perhaps the burden is an unwelcome and unpleasant duty. Perhaps it is some physical infirmity. Perhaps it is prolonged labour in a wageless and most exhausting sphere. What, then, will God do with us? "He shall sustain thee." The Lord will deal with the bearer of the burden. He will increase thy strength, and so in reality diminish thy load. This word "sustain" is a fine, wealthy word of most comforting content. There is in it a suggestion of the ministry of a nurse. He will deal with us as though we were infants. He will be to us the great mother-God. And He will manifest towards us all the tenderness of a nursing ministry. There is also in the word the suggestion of food. He will feed us. He will give to us the bread of life. He will increase our vitality, He will make our powers more alive, more wakeful, more exuberant, And I find in the word the further gracious meaning of "support." He will carry me, if need be. The concluding word of the text is purposed to heighten the assurance of the psalmist into the peace of absolute certainty. "He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." The life that is held by God, possessed and inspired by God, will be delivered from all trembling uncertainties. On the one hand, he will not be dismayed by a frown or a threat; nor, on the other hand, will he be enticed by some bewitching fascination. He will continue his way unmoved. The road will be straight; the walk will be firm; his footing will be sure.

(J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

I. THE BURDEN HERE REFERRED TO. It may be: —

1. Of remorse and guilty agitation. Some do not feel this, for they have "seared " their consciences, and so a hard insensitive surface over them that will not feel when accusation is brought against it. But others do feel this. Now, our text is for them.

2. Of solicitude. It may be concerning temporal things, or spiritual, or both.

3. Of service. Moses felt this, and so do many now. All of us have some service to render.

4. Of grief.

5. Of fear.

6. Of temptation. Now, whatever it be, give heed to —

II. THE DIRECTION AS TO WHAT WE ARE TO DO. There are many coun-sellors-philosophy, morality, the world; but inspired wisdom gives the counsel of our text. Now, such counsel implies —

1. Some acquaintance with God.

2. Desire of His assistance and relief.

3. Faith.

4. Prayer.

5. That we are so to cast our burden upon the Lord as not to bear it ourselves, but to leave it with Him. See Hannah.

III. THE ENCOURAGING STIMULUS THAT IS ANNEXED TO THE DECLARATION IN THE TEXT.

1. He can sustain thee. What is the amount of the burden that you have? Is it heavy as the Alps? Is it heavy as the globe? Roll it on Jesus Christ, roll it on His almighty strength; He is able to carry any load, to bear any and every weight; He can sustain thee.

2. He is mercifully disposed to sustain thee. One of the most miserable delusions of the philosophical infidelity conceived of God, was, that He is a great Being that cares nothing at all about little things — that He sits in the circle of eternity, not noticing the worms on this speck of matter called the globe, in this far-off region in the universe of space. That may be the notion that infidelity has of God, but that is not the notion the Bible gives of God.

3. He has solemnly bound Himself to do it. In the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, you find two things mentioned by which the people of God have strong consolation — the promise and the oath of God; and by these two things you are assured that God will sustain you in the day of trouble.

4. He has sustained you. It will be very easy for you to put your eye on several memorials that you yourselves have reared to the honour, and the goodness, and the faithfulness of God.

(T. E. Beaumont.)

(Morgan Dix, D. D.)

(M. Fuller.).

1. Craven-heartedness. A man whose heart is morally sound is bold as a lion, invincible as the light of day.

2. Presumptuous revenge.

II. THE DESIRABLE IN RELATION TO GOD.

1. A desire to trust Almighty God (ver. 3). All souls should centre in Him, cling to Him as planets to the sun. This is the real antidote to cowardly fear.

2. A desire to praise Almighty God (vers. 4, 10, 12). Praise consisteth in attuning our whole lives to His Spirit and law. The hymn of praise acceptable to Him is not a composition of words, but a composition of soul virtues and noble deeds.

3. A desire to be remembered by Almighty God (ver. 8). No words can affect a true heart as tears can; God's infinite heart feels our tears as they fall.

4. A desire to walk before Almighty God (ver. 13). To "walk before God " implies a constant consciousness of His presence and an enjoyment of His friendship. "Walk" before Him with His light shining behind you and over you, lighting up all the path and scenery ahead.

(Homilist.)

     5802   care
     7150   righteous, the
     8158   righteousness, of believers
     8849   worry

Psalm 55:22-23

     5562   suffering, innocent

Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

The Arrest
Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was one of these. …
James Stalker—The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ

If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
21. If then to sin, that others may not commit a worse sin, either against us or against any, without doubt we ought not; it is to be considered in that which Lot did, whether it be an example which we ought to imitate, or rather one which we ought to avoid. For it seems meet to be more looked into and noted, that, when so horrible an evil from the most flagitious impiety of the Sodomites was impending over his guests, which he wished to ward off and was not able, to such a degree may even that just …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish.
THIS remarkable man was prepared by very peculiar circumstances for his important work; and in his instance also it may be seen, how that infinite wisdom which guides the development of the kingdom of God amongst men, is able to bring great things out of what seems insignificant to the eyes of men. Patrick, called in his native tongue Succath, was born A. D. 372, in a village between the Scottish towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, (then appended to England,) in the village of Bonaven, since named in …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament