COME TO CHRIST ALL WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED

PROCLAMATION

“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 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to the Apostle Matthew.  After Jesus finished giving instructions to His disciples and sending them out to the people, He went on teaching and preaching in the towns of Galilee. (Matthew 11:1)  He spoke about John, the baptizer, (Matthew 11:2-18) to the crowd and to John’s disciples.  Then Jesus denounced the towns in which He had performed miracles because they did not repent. (Matthew 11:20-24)  Afterwards He spoke briefly about His relationship with God, The Father. (Matthew 11:25-27)  Then He invited all who labor and are burdened to come to Him, and He would give them rest.

APPLICATION

This is a personal invitation to the people as individuals to accept Christ and salvation.  Those who have not accepted His invitation are heavy-laden and burdened with sin. (Psalm 38:4)  The only way to get out from under the burden of sin is through Jesus, The Christ.  Only Christ can cleanse us from our sins. (Psalm 51:1-2, 51:7, and 51:10)  This is an invitation to get to know Him personally.  He is gentle and humble of heart, and His commandments are not hard to do.  “O taste and see that The Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusted in Him.” (Psalm 34:8)  He can handle all of your burdens.

FROM THE SOVEREIGN LORD COMES ESCAPE FROM DEATH

Proclamation:

“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 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  Exactly what David was dealing with when he wrote this psalm is not clear.  This is a song which addresses many issues.  Here he notes that believers should praise The Lord for it is He who daily bears our burdens.  He also states that our God is The God of salvation.  He himself has conquered death and He will deliver us from it.

Application:

He bore all of our griefs and sorrows, and He was wounded and bruised for our sins. (Isaiah 53:4-5)  For all that The Lord God has done for us and all that He does for us daily, (Psalm 68:19) we ought to praise Him daily and continually. (Psalm 34:1)  God gave His only begotten Son so that we would have a chance at salvation and eternal life. (John 3:16)  Jesus, The Christ, said that all power in heaven and earth was given to Him. (Matthew 28:18)  He also has the power over death. (1 Corinthians 15:52-57 and Revelation 1:18)  He has defeated death and those of us who believe in Him will be delivered from death. (John 5:24 and 6:40) 

TAKE YOUR BURDENS TO THE LORD

Proclamation:

"Cast your cares on The LORD and He will sustain you;  He will never let the righteous fall."  Psalms 55:22 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words of comfort and consolation were written to the people of God by King David, under the divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God.  He encouraged them to take their burdens and concerns to The Lord and then leave them there.  David wanted them to know that if they trusted in The Lord, that He would take care of them and He would never let them down.

Application:

As believers we trust in The Lord.  We know that He can handle all of our anxiety causing situations.  He can lift us up out of the depths that depression causes us to sink into.  He can turn our burdens into blessings, our trials into triumphs, and our pains into pleasure.  No burden or problem, no matter how great, is too much for Him to handle.  Whatever our situation or our circumstance, The Lord will uphold us and sustain us through the struggles that we face.  All we have to do is believe and trust in The Lord, and He will sustain us. (Psalms 115:11)  So, as the song says, “take your burdens to The Lord and leave them there.”

Our Hope Is In The Lord

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."  Psalms 42:11 (NIV)

This is one of the psalms which was recorded by the Sons of Korah, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The exact occasion and situation which resulted in this psalm are unknown.  It is clear that the individual human author was lamenting something intense, which was aggravated by the people around him that were mocking him. (Psalms 42:3 and 10)  He rebukes himself for being despondent, and then expresses his hope in The Lord God.

Sometimes, life has a way of getting us down.  Some things depress us, or disturb us.  And all too often, some of the people around us make the situation worse instead of better.  In times like these, we need to turn our attention to The Lord.  We need to remember how He helped us in past situations.  We need to remember that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, His redemptive blood, and His righteousness.  We need to pray, and read The Holy Word of God, and then praise Him for who He is, knowing that whatever we need is already done.  Be strong and take heart, The Lord preserves all those who place their hope in Him. (Psalm 31:23-24)

The Strong Should Help The Weak

"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves."  Romans 15:1 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul wrote these words, under the guidance and direction of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in Rome, in order to let them know that the strong among them should help help the weak. 

As believers, we are to help the physically and spiritually weaker brothers and sisters bear their burdens, and show them loving consideration.  We are not just to tolerate the weak and less fortunate, but we are to help and strengthen them as much as we can.  We are being Christ-like when we help others.  We are not supposed to live just to please ourselves, we are to live to please and help our brothers, spiritually and practically. (Romans 15:2)  Christ taught us that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:39)  Let us be more Christ-like and lend a helping hand to those in need spiritually and physically.

Take Your Burdens To The Lord

"Cast your cares on The LORD and He will sustain you;  He will never let the righteous fall."  Psalms 55:22 (NIV)

These words of comfort and consolation were written to the people of God by King David, under the divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God.  He exhorted them to take their burdens to The Lord and then leave them there.  He wanted them to know that if they trusted in The Lord, that He would take care of them and He would never let them down.

Believers can trust in The Lord, He can handle all of our anxiety causing situations.  He can lift us up out of the depths that depression causes us to sink into.  No burden, no matter how great, is too much for Him to handle.  Whatever our situation, or our lot in life, The Lord will uphold us and sustain us through the struggles that we face in this life.  All we have to do is believe and trust in The Lord, and He will sustain us. (Psalms 115:11)  So, take your burdens to The Lord and leave them there.

God Blesses Us Daily

"Praise be to The Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."  Psalms 68:19  (NIV) 
"Blessed be The Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even The God of our salvation."  (KJV)  "Blessed be The Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God of our salvation."  ((NAS)
"Blessed be The Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even The God Who is our salvation."  (Amplified Bible)

King David clearly praises God, our Savior, in this psalm.  It is also clear that he is praising God for blessing us.  However, the experts do not agree on the exact nature of the blessing. The benefits which God provides are daily blessings, which we are overloaded with and are too numerous to count.  (Matthew Henry)  God bears us up and protects us from our enemies. (C John Collins)   God daily provides, supports, and upholds us. (Finnis Dake)  The benefit that God provides is protection for His people.  (Thomas Nelson)

 Regardless of which version of The Bible we read, or which Bible expert we believe, it is clear that God blesses us and helps us, even if we do not understand all of the blessings that we receive.  I believe that we are blessed daily in more ways than we know, and more often than we realize.  Each heart beat and each breath is a blessing.  We take so many bodily function blessing for granted.  We are blessed with things and people in our lives, some to help us and some to teach us.  Blessings can also take the form of protection from dangers, seen and unseen.  Just know that as a believer God has blessed us in the past, God is blessing us right now, and God will bless us in the future.