Psalm 119 goes through the Hebrew alphabet in truths about the Lord. David gets to the end at verse 176 and says I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments. David admits and confesses he has gone astray and asked the Lord to seek him.
Jeremiah 50: 6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
We think of David writing the Psalms on a spiritual mountain. He’s not poor. He’s not sick. He’s not underprivileged. Is he not king of the hill, so to speak? He has all things at his disposal but recognized he was not with the Lord as he was.
We take it for granted that we’re where the Lord wants us to be. Where is your mind? Your heart? Where and what are your loves? Life has a strange way of twisting things around. We can get all turned around. People are lost and don’t realize it, and we can stray from our walk with the Lord. We get cold and indifferent on coming to church. We worry about pleasing people. We allow emotions to rule us. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else has backslid but you, you’re the first that needs some help. It’s time to realize our need. If David can admit what he did, we should do the same.
We’re not above sin. We have flaws. God uses the person who admits his need to be to be shepherded by the Lord. You can be far away from God even though coming to church. If you’re not here in sincerity because you want to be, if you’re just going through the motions, or here because you think you have to be, then you’ve strayed away. You’ll stray enough to backslide and forget to pray and lose your fellowship with God if you’re not careful.
When David saw who God was in his greatness and glory, he saw himself as one gone astray. It’s easy to look around at others and find fault, but we all need to first look at ourselves. Here’s where pride and hypocrisy come in. David looked in the mirror and saw God behind him and realized how little he was. He saw how perfect God is and how imperfect he was. We’re not the shepherd and God our sheep. He’s the shepherd. We need to admit our sheepishness and tendency to stray. We all need the shepherd. Our own Adam nature tugs at us and if we’re not careful we’ll stray away.
When this happens someone else has become our shepherd. Any other shepherd is a fake. There are not choices of shepherds. There is only one with the credentials and his name is Jesus. Just because you’re not poor and are healthy or come to church doesn’t cut it. We must be found in the Lord, following his voice and not the voice of television, of the world, of man. You must follow Jesus yourself. You’ll not get to heaven because you know me. You must know God for yourself. We should recognize his voice. It scares me that we could get so churchy that we’d don’t recognize the Lord and say we’re doing fine. That’s what the church at Laodicea said and God had something against them.
We’re too busy. It’s time to turn off some things and tune into God. Don’t depend on man. Depend on God. Each of us needs to be close to God. Don’t follow me or anyone else. Follow Jesus. Have you lost recognition of the voice of the shepherd? I’ve learned a Number 1 lesson. On my own I’m nothing, and I need Jesus.
David prayed for God to seek him. He had strayed and didn’t recognize his voice. We need to seek God and quit going around in the bushes. Call out for the shepherd to seek you and pull you out. The shepherd became a lamb and was sacrificed for us on the cross so that each of us lost sheep could be found and brought home.
Psalms 119:174-175 state I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. Can we say we’re like David and like a lost sheep that has strayed? Come ask God to seek you out. Come and get me, Jesus.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 