Psalm 119:176

Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.

I am so thankful that God included this verse in His Bible for us to read and ponder.

Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms, and the verses come in sets of eight each. When reading the first set of eight, we see the psalmist as a young man, just beginning his Christian walk. He is full of enthusiasm and great resolve.

The psalmist's trials begin in earnest in verse 25 and continue to the end of the psalm. But the psalmist himself never wavers in his faith. His constant cry unto to the Lord is for His Word.

As the psalm progresses, so does the life of the psalmist, often joyful, always longing, ever hopeful, always turned to the Lord, his God.

Finally, we come to verse 176, the last verse; and in keeping with the movement of the psalm as a whole, it seems that this verse would find its writer old, seasoned, a veteran of many, many spiritual battles, struggles, hardships, and wars.

But what do we read? A great cry of triumph, such as, "Lord, thank-you! I have achieved the goal with which I began my Christian walk!"? No, it is the plaintive bleating of a lost sheep, "I have gone astray...seek Your servant."

I believe the Lord included this verse for comfort, for comfort to someone such as I, a Christian of no few years, one who has made many, many mistakes, taken many wrong turns, gotten lost so many times, and some of those times quite seriously, to the very brink of death.

This psalm and verse says to my heart that God knows all my difficulties; He has "been there" before with many of His saints, the psalmist included. Getting lost and making serious mistakes does not necessarily mean that the person is not a Christian. Even seasoned Christians get lost and make mistakes. Yet, they are still called "servant"; God's renewed nature is still within them; God's promises still stand.

The closing words, "Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments," speak hope, pardon and renewed fellowship with the Lord, a better time to come.

How true to both the human heart and to God's nature this psalm is.

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Lord, I thank You for the sacrifice of Your life on my behalf. Thank You for Your triumph through the cross, which is infinitely greater than all my sin. Thank You for Your Word of comfort and strength. Thank You for Your tender care of all Your children. In Jesus, Amen.