Psalm 68

 Psalm 68

Adam Clark, whom I believe to be one of the best scholars on the book of Psalms, says the Psalm 68 is the most difficult of all the Psalms.  It may have been a Psalm built on prior Psalms.  The general theme is of God’s people traveling after God.  We see glimpses of the Exodus, the Ark being moved into Jerusalem, and Israel returning from Babylon.  Travel is always hard, and in the middle of the psalm is a beautiful promise.  In verse 19 we read, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, the God who is our salvation.”

Travel in ancient times was one of burdens.  Few owned a beast of burden, and fewer still owned a cart or wagon, and there were certainly none of the vehicles that make travel for us so easy. The rule was if you wanted it, you carried it.  We think of traveling light as 1 or 2 bags we carry or roll a few hundred feet to the car or plane.  They carried their baggage or burdens all the way all the time. This was especially difficult for the solo traveler.  In this complex Psalm we find the simple, hope-filled truth that God daily bears our burdens.  Ours, in many ways, is a different kind of journey; it is nonetheless difficult, but we have the same hope: Daily the Lord bears our burdens.

“Lord, help me to lay my burdens down and trust You as the One who bears my burdens. AMEN.”