Christ in the Old Testament

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Psalm 55

Psalm 55 is another psalm written by David where we can read it in the first person as if spoken by Jesus. Like other psalms of this nature, this psalm takes place on Jesus’ last day on earth. And he is crying out to God.

The first half of the psalm speaks of the suffering and anguish Jesus is experiencing. “Horror has overwhelmed me,” he says (vs 5). If he could fly away to his “place of shelter,” he would hurry to get there.

By the looks of it, this pain seems to be inflicted by his enemies. The wicked are creating violence and strife in the city. Destructive forces are at work. Threats and lies are in the streets.

But then there’s the twist. Like a great book or movie when you thought you knew who the bad guy was, the real villain is revealed to your surprise. Jesus (and David) explain that if it was in fact an enemy, they could endure it. But it’s not. It’s a companion – a close friend.

“My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant. His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords” (vs ‭20‬-‭21‬).

I think most of us are like the psalmist. “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it” (vs 12). But it’s not. It’s a friend “with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers” (vs 14).

It is indeed our friends who can hurt us in the deepest way possible. If you’ve ever tasted betrayal, you can empathize with the psalmist. Betrayal is a bitter pill to swallow.

The response of the psalmist to this betrayal is to drop some wisdom on us. “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken” (vs 22). Oh if it were only that easy!

Not only in a time of betrayal, but in all our troubles we should cast our cares on the Lord. The meaning of the word cast is to “throw away.” When you throw something away you can’t get it back. Ever try digging something out of the trash can that you threw away three days ago? It’s not easy to find!

When we cast our troubles on God, we throw them away for Him to deal with in His time. And then they’re supposed to stay with Him. We aren’t to ever take them back. It’s not that we won’t have any thoughts, emotions or even consequences for our troubles. But when we cast them on God, we let him deal with the betrayer. The best revenge is to be free of them.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, help me to cast all my cares on you today.