In the first four verses of this beautiful Psalm, David appears to be talking both about himself and about someone who may be sympathetic to David in his time of weakness. Either way, it is a strong statement of how God sustains those who care for the weak and needy.
How easy it is for me to become a tiny, miserable package, all wrapped up in my own problems and blind to the needs of others. Yet, when I reach beyond my need into the life of a fellow sufferer, my suffering becomes less noticable. When I move alongside someone and seek to help bear her burden, for some reason my burden's weight is lessened. How is that possible?
Perhaps it has to do with how God intervenes on my behalf as I intervene on the behalf of another. As I move in to lift the weight of a friend's burden, God reaches out to carry mine. He uplifts me with his strong right hand ( Psalm 37:24) and gives me strength beond my understanding as I am obedient to His command to "bear one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2).
And what is "the rest of the story"? David uses lovely verbs to tell what he has experienced as he has walked with God in obedience. David says that God delivers, protects and preserves, blesses, will not surrender him, sustains, and restores him. It is difficult to think of a need in my life that cannot be met by one of these actions on God's part.
The lesson for me is that, when I am most burdened, I must move away from my self-centered concern and reach toward the concerns of another---touch and relieve the weight of their burden---and experience the undegirding of a great God.
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