Prescription for anxiety

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. —  Psalm 55:22

According to a Wall Street Journal report, anxiety has overtaken depression as the leading mental health problem in the United States. Anxiety-fighting drugs are now the top-selling pharmaceutical products. Even with a booming economy and political stability, worry and apprehension remain part of our human condition — one that can never be adequately relieved by a pill.

When David composed Psalm 55, his mind was agitated by the same types of situation we struggle with today: He recoiled in horror from the violence, anger, and abuse that stalked the city streets (vv. 9-11). He suffered the anguish of being betrayed by a close friend (vv. 12-14). He longed to leave and escape to a place of peace (vv. 4-8).

Because David’s anxious pain mirrors our own, his prescription for relief can be ours as well. He wrote, “I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me . . . Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you” (vv. 16, 22).

Anxiety is a burden we are not called to bear. Instead, we are to lay our concerns on Christ because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7; see also Phil. 4:6-7).

If your heart is weighed down today, the Lord, the Lord is ready to hear every burden you give Him. — David McCasland

All your anxiety, all your care,

Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there;

Never a burden He cannot bear,

Never a friend like Jesus. — Joy

READ: Psalm 55:4-23

God invites us to burden Him with what burdens us.

The Bible in one year:

• Exodus 1-4