The best salve for every sore is prayer.
One of the greatest griefs is to find ourselves deceived in some who have made great pretensions to friendship in the name of religion,
but if our minds are stayed on Christ,
we may ever have peace of heart,
for His peace passes understanding (Phil. 4:6-7).
Psalm 1
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 55:1-11 – Fleeing the City’s Ills
This psalm was suggested by Absalom’s rebellion and Ahithophel’s treachery. But it contains references which, in their full extent, are chiefly applicable to Judas’ treatment of our Lord. The terrors of the unseen, the stealthy tread of the assassin, the treachery of a friend, the drawn sword under unctuous speech—such were the bitter ingredients mingled for this deeply-tried soul. But we have all known something of his disappointment and anguish, and have longed for the swift wings of a dove to escape to the bosom of God.
One of the Puritans says: “My Spouse is ascended higher than the highest heavens, and I, poor soul, am left desolate and disconsolate in this valley of tears. The weight of my weakness and my sins doth so clog and shackle me, so glue and nail me to the earth, that I cannot rise. Let Him descend and give me wings whereby I may ascend.” Oh that I had—humility. Oh that I had wings—celerity. Like a dove—innocence. Fly away—aspirations to the Lord, “whom having not seen, ye love” (1 Peter 1:8). Rest—permanent security. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 55:12-23 – Friends May Forsake, but God Abideth
The streets and open spaces of the city were filled with conspirators. Violence, strife, deceit, and oppression trampled the virtuous and helpless under foot. The treachery of Ahithophel was worse than all. How different the hot anger of David from our Lord’s treatment of Judas, when He washed Judas’ feet, expostulated with him in the garden, and bade him pause to think to what he had come! Blessed is the soul that retires from the hubbub of the street—as David, Daniel, and all devout Israelites were wont to do—three times a day. Compare Psalm 55:17 with Daniel 6:10 and Acts 10:9. He will cover our heads in the day of battle and redeem our souls in peace, if only we will trust Him.
Psalm 55:22, thy burden is that which God has given thee to carry. It did not come by chance nor from the evil intent of men. He cast it on thee; cast it back on Him. We cannot do our work so long as we stoop beneath the exhausting waste of anxiety and care. Hand all over to thy Father’s care. Let no burdens break the Sabbath-keeping of thy heart! Nehemiah 13:19. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 55:22—Cast thy burden upon the LORD.
We all know the story of the man wearily trudging along the road with the burden on his back, to whom a friend offered a lift in his cart. To the latter’s surprise the wayfarer sat beside him with his burden still strapped to his shoulder. “Why do you not put your burden down?” quoth he. “Thank you,” was the reply, “I am so obliged at your carrying me that I will not trouble you with my burden also.” And so he hugged it still. How many a child of God trusts Him with his soul, but not with his load! Yet if God has undertaken the greater, surely He may be trusted with the less. If He has borne thy sins, He can surely carry thy sorrows.
Thy burden is that which He hath given thee. Whatever it be—the weight of a church, the pressure of a family, the burden of other souls—thy Father hath given it thee. Give its pressure back to Him, thou retaineth the salutary lesson of hourly patience and faith. God imposes burdens, to see what we will do with them. We may carry them to our undoing, or we may cast them on Him for his blessed countenance.
“Oh for the faith to cast our load,
E’en while we pray, upon our God,
Then rise with lightened cheer.”
Notice, that if we cast our burden, we must believe He takes it. We must definitely leave it with Him, and count as a positive sin the temptation to reconsider, it. When you cast your burden, God will take it, and will do more. He will sustain you. He will catch up your burden and you, and bear you all the day long between his shoulders. —Our Daily Homily