Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant; for I do not forget your commandments. We have in this verse the description of a believer — not as he ought to be — not as he would wish to be — but as he is. It is not a fancy picture; it is a picture of life. I. IT IS AS HONEST CONFESSION. It is upright; and downright. He does not throw the blame upon the world's seducements, and say — "That was too great an enemy for me, it overcame me." He does not throw the blame upon Satan. Neither does he throw the blame upon the flesh that was in him; though we know that was the source of the evil. He takes the whole blame to himself — "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." II. THE PRAYER: "Seek Thy servant." It implies that he had got so far that he did not know his way back. Quite evidently: "I have gone astray, seek Thy servant," I cannot find any way of return. III. THE PLEA: "For I do not forget Thy commandments." There are periods in a believer's life in which he not only has one evidence, but he has a hundred evidences of his adoption. But there are periods when it seems almost reduced to the little spark on the ocean. Here is that little spark — "I do not forget Thy commandments." Do not think it a mere point of memory. No, it is something more than that. "Though I have gone from Thee, though I have left Thy precepts, though I have not followed them as I ought to have followed them, yet 'I do not forget' they are sweet to me; I love them; I wish to have them written out in my heart." Conclusion — 1. The tendency there is in sin. It is not contented with making us miserable; it wants to destroy us, and that for ever. 2. The weakness of the believer. Like a lost sheep. 3. The faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. He puts this plea in the heart. 4. The kind Restorer of this wandering sheep. 5. Beware of whatever leads to going astray. Love of the world, idleness, etc. 6. Seek that which promotes the life of God. Live upon Christ. (J. H. Evans, M. A.). Parallel Verses KJV: I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments. |
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