What does it mean to go astray like a lost sheep?

In Psalm 119:176, the psalmist confesses, 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep.' This imagery reflects the reality of human sinfulness and the tendency to deviate from God's ways. It reinforces the doctrine of total depravity, where all individuals are prone to wander and need divine intervention. In Reformed theology, this understanding leads to the acknowledgment that Jesus, the good shepherd, seeks out those who are lost, as articulated in Luke 19:10, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.' Thus, the plea for God to seek us illustrates our recognition of our lost state and our reliance on His grace to bring us back into fellowship with Him.