Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.

This is such a simple little verse, yet it speaks a profound truth. First of all, it starts with praising God. I have noticed that people who regularly praise God are much happier than those who don’t. It’s not that God is some twisted megalomaniac who has to “have his strokes” all the time, it’s that praising God helps us take our focus off of ourselves and place it on Him. I have noticed, in my regular visits to the mental hospital, that whatever their specific problems, almost all of those patients are excessively self-centered. It has rightly been said that the unexamined life isn’t worth living, but too much introspection is hardly good for us. David goes on to give a very down-to-earth reason for praising God: He daily bears our burdens. That is significant in itself for two reasons. First is that He would bear them at all. Why would the Creator of the universe take on burdens for the sake of His creation? However, the entire Bible is a record of how much He loves us, His creation, culminating in the gift of His Son, so that we may be rescued from our own sin to be able to fellowship with Him for eternity. (John 3:16) Jesus Himself put this burden-bearing very clearly and explicitly, as is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30. It is all the more remarkable that, as David points out, He does this daily. We tend to go to God for what we consider “big stuff,” not understanding that He’s willing to deal with whatever we will yield to Him. That’s not to say that we can be irresponsible and lazy, because our participation is very much called for. However, He will do the “heavy lifting,” if we will allow Him to. That’s why He’s our Savior!

I’ve certainly experienced God bearing my burdens, but that’s not to say I’m completely consistent in yielding them to Him. Every time I lie awake at night, mulling things over in my mind, I am reminded that my faith and trust aren’t where they should and could be! As much trouble as I’ve had learning and practicing the truth of this verse, I have no room to look down on others who are struggling with it. However, at times my heart breaks for them, as I see them staggering under loads that God is so ready to lift. Everyone has troubles of various sorts, just as Jesus said (John 16:33), but if we can trust God enough to release things to Him, we can have peace and joy even in the middle of whatever we are going through.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I’ll be seeing several people who fall into this category today, in hospitals and elsewhere. Help me be an open channel of Your grace to them, encouraging them and lifting them up, so that they will be enabled to take their eyes off of themselves and fix them on You, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!