Texts in Conversation
In Psalm 55, the psalmist tells others to throw their burden on God. In the Shepherd of Hermas, Hermas escapes a huge beast after casting his care on God in similar language, and believers are told to do the same before a coming time of great suffering.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 55:22
Hebrew Bible
12 Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me, or else I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, or else I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like me, my close friend in whom I confided. 14 We would share personal thoughts with each other; in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd. 15 May death destroy them. May they go down alive into Sheol. For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst. 16 As for me, I will call out to God, and the Lord will deliver me. 17 During the evening, morning, and noontime I will lament and moan, and he will hear me. 18 He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me, even though they greatly outnumber me. 19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago, will hear and humiliate them. (Selah) They refuse to change, and do not fear God. 20 He attacks his friends; he breaks his solemn promises to them. 21 His words are as smooth as butter, but he harbors animosity in his heart. His words seem softer than oil, but they are really like sharp swords. 22 Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the godly to be shaken.
Shepherd of Hermas 23:5
Early Christian
4 “You escaped it well,” she said, “because you cast your care on God, and opened your heart to the Lord, believing that nothing else could save you except His great and glorious Name. Therefore the Lord sent His angel, the one over the beasts, whose name is Segri, and shut its mouth so that it would not harm you. You have escaped a great tribulation because of your faith, and because, though you saw such a huge beast, you did not doubt in your mind. 5 So go and declare His mighty works to God’s chosen, and tell them that this beast is an image of the great tribulation to come. So if you prepare yourselves in advance, and repent and turn to the Lord with your whole heart, you will be able to escape it, if your heart is made pure and without fault, and if for the rest of your days you serve the Lord blamelessly. Cast your cares on the Lord and He will set them right.
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Notes and References
“... An exact paraphrase of the terminology of Ps 55:22 (54:23 LXX); cf. 1 Pet 5:7, of which the quote here shows no influence. [...] The same allusion to Ps 54:23 is used more gracefully in Vis. 4.2.4, 5. [...] Verse 4 addresses Hermas through allusion to Ps 55:22 (54:23 LXX), "Cast your care upon the Lord," directed in the singular to him, followed by approval of his opening his heart to the Lord; he has been able to escape the "great tribulation" [...] through the action of the angel Thegri, because of his faith and the correlative absence of doublemindness. The same promise is present on the communal level: vv. 5b, 6 address the community in the plural with an invitation to be converted with full heart to the Lord, using the same psalm allusion, this time in the plural, and ending with the appeal against doublemindness. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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