As it may please God to bless
us together this evening, I will speak to you from the last verse
in the 119th Psalm. Psalm 119 and reading verse 176.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant for I do not forget thy commandments I believe we should be encouraged
really by such a statement as this when we think that the psalmist
here has written a long psalm And as he comes right down to
the very last verse, we have this very solemn confession really. He says, I have gone astray like
a lost chief. Seek thy servant for I do not
forget thy commandments. And it should therefore be a
warning to us to be concerned that we may not be left to go
astray. This section, this last section
of the 119th Psalm, commences with these words, Let my cry
come near before thee, O Lord. The man was in some need, wasn't
he? It was a cry, and as I've said
very often, A cry is that which is often involuntary from us.
A baby cries, can't do anything else. To draw attention, he cries. And the blessing will be if we
come to that situation in our time of need. The psalmist here
had a time of need. We shouldn't think it was a strange
and unusual experience. Here he is, coming to this situation,
and what's he saying? Let my cry, a personal desire,
a personal prayer, let my cry come near before thee. Oh Lord,
he wanted God to take notice of him. He didn't want to be
forgotten. He didn't want to be left aside.
He wanted the Lord to come and hear him. Well, we see here,
A living soul. A living soul. Those who are dead won't cry. They have no voice. They have no concern. But those
who have life, God-given life within, will cry unto the Lord. So we have here this desire. Let my cry come near before thee,
O Lord." And he wanted to have an understanding. Give me understanding
according to thy word. We might think, well surely that
should have been the first verse in this psalm, not the last,
or near the last. But we see it's an experience
which we continually need We never come to a full understanding
of the Word of God. We can bless God for that which
we do know, if there has been, that reveals to us. But I believe
we'll always be coming here seeking the Lord to look upon us and
give us understanding. We should never be afraid to
ask the Lord to show us. We might sometimes be ashamed
of our lack of knowledge. I remember in my own case, I
was ashamed of my lack of knowledge after sitting under the ministry
for many years and virtually knowing nothing. I had much cause to be ashamed.
But here is a prayer that suited me at that time and a word that
still suits me today. Give me understanding according
to thy word. We don't want a natural understanding.
We can draw a natural conclusion. We can see a situation and we
can produce an understanding ourselves. What we need is an
understanding which is in line with the word of God. Thy word. And as I'm sure you are familiar,
with the fact that Thy Word occurs many, many times in this 119th
Psalm. Thy Word. And what a blessing
it is, my friends, that we have God's Word, Thy Word, the Word
of God to read and to be instructed by. And so, having desired that,
he says, let my supplications come before thee. He didn't want
to pray in vain. He didn't want just to speak
familiar phrases without coming from his heart. He wanted his
prayers, his supplications to come before the Lord. Well, that's
reality, isn't it? That's not something superficial.
That's the cry of a believer. Let my supplication come before
thee. Deliver me. according to thy word. Now, we don't know precisely
what was in the life of the psalmist here. Often, you know, we can
read the word of God and it's comprehensive in its statements. It covers many situations. And
we can see it covers our situation here, even tonight, as we have
this statement, deliver me according to thy word. Whatever there may
be in our life, which is a problem to us and we need delivering
from. Deliver me according to thy word. We may remember that
David and we think David wrote this psalm. We may remember David
in his life when he came before the king when he was about to
fight Goliath. He was blessed with that humble
confidence to be able to say that the Lord who had delivered
him from the lion and the bear, he will deliver me. It's good, you know, when we're
blessed with a humble confidence. He had acknowledged God's goodness
to him and he could go forward in that confidence that his God
would not leave him nor forsake him. It was a right and a humble
and God-given faith which he possessed. My lips shall utter
praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. Praise waiteth
for thee in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Oh, in our lives what a blessing
it will be if there is that praise which is waiting. We desire to
be able to praise the Lord And so, he says here, my lips shall
utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. He wanted understanding,
he wanted to be taught the way, when the Lord answered those
prayers, and what did he say then? My lips shall utter praise,
and my tongue shall speak of thy word, for all thy commandments
are righteousness. I desire to acknowledge the goodness
of the Lord toward him, and I'm sure, I'm sure, that when the
Lord touches our hearts and shows us his mercy and his love and
his delivering hand toward us, then the desire is to acknowledge
his goodness and his favour toward us. My tongue shall speak of
thy word for all thy commandments of righteousness. Let thine hand
help me For I have chosen thy precepts." He realised he needed
help from God. And we need help from God continually. Let us not try to go in our strength. No, let us go in the strength
of the Lord God. And make mention of His righteousness,
even of thine only. Oh, that's a comfortable place
to be in. Going in the strength of the Lord. because it brings
honour and glory to God. Let thine hand help me, for I
have chosen thy precepts." And then he comes down and says,
I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord. I have longed for thy
salvation. Well, I wonder whether that's
true in our lives. When there's been a longing in our heart,
The secret longing before God. You know, it is the secret between
our souls and God. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him. And He will show them His covenant.
He will not leave them. He will not forsake them. He
will come to them. I have longed for thy salvation,
O Lord, and it's only The children of God who long for God's salvation. Those who are of the world, who
have no concern. They're not interested in God
showing them His salvation. They're full of the world. They're
satisfied with the world. But oh, if God has put into our
hearts a living desire, desire after spiritual blessings like
this and were able to say that this was the honest confession.
The honest confession. It wasn't that he was boasting
about anything here. He was just pouring out his heart
to his God. I have longed for thy salvation,
O Lord, and thy law is my delight. You see, these things go together.
If we're true, truly seeking, truly longing, we should love
the Word of God. We can't leave it dusty on the
shelf. No, we'll be searching to see whether there's a Word
for my soul. Whether there's a Word which
will come to me and deliver me. The Word of God will be very
real. Thy law is my delight." And then
he comes down and he's asked two verses. Let my soul live. Oh, life naturally is precious,
isn't it? Spiritual life is more precious. Many people want to live naturally.
Queen Elizabeth I, when she was dying, she said, half of my kingdom
for a moment of time. She wants to live longer. My friends, our concern should
be for the gift of eternal life. Let my soul live again. Let us not pass over this statement,
my soul. Real religion must be between
our soul and God. It is personal. Let my soul live
and it shall praise thee. If our soul is living, the living
shall praise Thee as I do this day." Well, that was the testimony
of Hezekiah. My friends, it is our testimony
that we desire to praise the God with the revelation that
we possess the life of God in the soul, the gift of God, the
wonderful favour of salvation. And therefore our concern is,
let my soul live and there's going to be a follow on, a follow
up. It's not going to just die there.
It's not going to cease. And it shall praise thee and
let thy judgments help me. Then we come down to this verse.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for
I do not forget thy commandments." There are occasions when we may
go astray. The devil wants to lead us astray. He wants to lead us astray, so
if possible, he may destroy us. That's his aim. That is continual
desire. The jet is good when the Spirit
of God comes and touches our heart and reveals to us where
we are. Here it is. I have gone astray
like a lost sheep. He recognised. He'd wandered
away. Now, it is the Spirit of God
which blesses us with this understanding that we've gone astray. You know,
a lost sheep is a lost sheep. A dog and some other animals,
a lot of animals, if they wander away, they find their way back.
They have a sense of direction. are able to come back. Sheep
do not have that ability. And if they are lost, they wander away. They are not
able to find their way back. And therefore, what is the statement
here? Seek thy servant. He needed God to come to him
and to seek him out. To find him where he was. Seek
thy servant. He didn't want to remain in this
position. He confessed. What a blessing
it is to have confession. It's one of the hardest things
to confess our sin. Because it means that we have
to acknowledge that we've been a failure. To come and to confess our sin
is a hard thing, but it's a blessed thing. And if you are able to
come, confessing your sin, honestly and freely to your God, this
word is true. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. What a blessing it is then to
receive this gift from God, to come as we are, and as the psalmist
says here, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Yes, he wandered
away. He'd been enticed away. the devil will try and entice
us away. There's many temptations in our
life. Many temptations. And we should
always be aware that there are those temptations. and that we
are kept from those temptations. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Well, I believe this is true. And I believe we all have to
say if we're honest, there have been those times when we've gone
astray. I'm sure none of us can say,
well, of course I've walked a wonderfully upright life ever since the Lord
called me. Well if you say that, you can
be sure you will soon prove your strength is no match for the
devil. And you'll prove that you can't
keep yourself. And you'll prove that the devil
is far stronger than you are. In earlier verses in this 119th
psalm, we read verse 67, Before I was afflicted, I went
astray, but now have I kept thy word." You see, the Lord sometimes
brings us into times of affliction to cause us to realise where
we've got to. Before he was afflicted, he wandered
away. What do we say? in love to our soul, the Lord
deals with us, and brings affliction of one type or another into our
life, so we realise where we got to. Well, we don't enjoy,
do we, afflictions? We don't enjoy these things,
but we do bless God if he brings these things into our lives to
correct us. to show us where we were going,
or perhaps where we'd got to. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray, but there was a bringing back, and there was a gracious
outcome. And the outcome here was, but
now have I kept thy word. The clear inference here is that
before that, he hadn't kept God's word. He'd walked away. He disobeyed the Word of God.
It's very easy for us to disobey the Word of God. Very easy to
disobey the Word of God. Because there are many things
which naturally attract us. And what happens, we tend to
go after those things. And what we need is the keeping
power of God. What we need is God to shine
upon our path. Indeed, the 105th verse in the
same psalm tells us, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my path. And it's a blessed thing when
we see that shining on our path and before it lighting our feet
so we see the right way and we're able and willing to walk in that
way. I've gone astray like a lost
sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. And remember the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what he did when he
went after the one sheep. You might think, well that's
alright, that was one sheep. Well just remember what Isaiah
said, in that 53rd chapter of Isaiah
and he made this point and the point was that all we like sheep
have gone astray all we like sheep have gone astray we have
turned everyone to his own way so none of us are exempt are
we from this sad path of going astray. But we read here, and
the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. So our strayings
were not sinless strayings. Our strayings were sinful, because
we have not kept the word of the Lord. And what is the result? Those strains, those sins have had to be paid
for. And we couldn't pay for them
because we were bankrupt. We had nothing good. So who was to pay the price to atone
for those sins? and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. All our sins, all our strains,
all our strains away from our God have been laid upon the Saviour. Yes, well, to realise that truth,
to think what the Saviour had to suffer in order to pay for
our strains. And then to think of the goodness
of the Lord, the wonderful blessing of the Lord in going after His
sheep, going after His sheep. Yes, we might think twice about
that. If we were a shepherd perhaps
and there was one sheep missing, would we go after it, not knowing
where it was? perhaps having to spend a long
time seeking that sheep. And yet you see, the Lord Jesus,
he went after this sheep. And we read, the parable he spoke,
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,
doth not have leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and
go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he
hath found it, What does he do? Does he drive it back? Does he
beat it for going astray? And does he reprimand it and
scold it? Well, we have this statement
here. When he hath found it, he layeth
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends, and neighbours saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, For I found my sheep which was lost." It's not what natural man does,
you know. Here we see the example of a
good shepherd. We see the example of the heavenly
shepherd, going after that lost sheep, that one that's gone astray.
What a wonderful thing that the Lord has sought us out. If we've strayed from the fold,
just ourselves, all the rest of the sheep are still there.
We've strayed away. We've got lost. We're in the
wilderness. And what are we saying? Oh Lord,
seek thy servant. We expect no doubt to be reprimanded
and brought to heel as it were, We see the love of the Saviour.
He carries us back. Carries us back. Puts us into
the fold. Oh, we deserved punishment, didn't
we? The Lord doesn't deal with us as man deals with us. God
deals in love. Oh, what a wonderful Saviour
we have. So, where does He come? When he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth
more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Repentance is set before us in
this verse here, because it comes in, I have gone astray like a
lost sheep. Confession of sin. Confession
of sin and then a desire for God to have mercy. Seek thy servant. We see in those statements repentance
and it is a blessing when God gives us repentance. It's not
something that we can generate ourself. It's the gift of God,
and it's a wonderful blessing to be given godly repentance,
which is not to be repented of. You see, a false repentance would
need to be repented of. A man-made repentance will be
of the flesh, but a God-given repentance is of the Spirit. My friends, that is not to be
repented of. So think of the blessing then
of this heavenly shepherd looking upon us as we've gone astray,
like a lost sheep. We can't find our way back. We
don't know the way back. The Lord knows where we've got
to. The Lord knows where you are. He knows where you are tonight. He knows the exact position where
you are in your spiritual life. You may not understand it yourself.
The Lord knows where you are. And if this is a true prayer,
a confession and a desire, I've gone astray like a lost sheep.
Seek thy servant. The word of God tells us, seek
and you shall find. There's a seeking unto the Lord
that he will come. and seek you. Now, such a prayer is not of
the flesh. It is of the influence of the
Holy Spirit. It's the work of the Spirit.
And the work of the Spirit will bring honour and glory to God. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant For I do not forget thy commandments."
We've read together that beautiful chapter in John's Gospel, that
10th chapter, which speaks to us so very clearly about the
heavenly shepherd and about the sheep. And we're told, I am the
good shepherd. Well, we have the Shepherd, the
Good Shepherd here in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is telling
us that. I am the Good Shepherd. And he says, the Good Shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. We see the statement here. The
Lord made this statement while he was, of course, on the earth,
before he was crucified. But the truth was, this Good
Shepherd He did give His life for the sheep. And that would
be a wonderful comfort to you and me if we've gone astray. And we've confessed our sins
and we're seeking the Lord will look upon us. We're seeking that
He will seek us. To come and find us. And carry
us back into the fold. Into the flock. and to realise
that that is done because he's paid the price of our wandering
away. I believe when the Spirit of
God comes upon us and convinces us of our true position and shows
us where we've got to and how the Lord has not dealt with us
according to our sins If he did, we wouldn't be here tonight.
We wouldn't be here tonight. The Lord is long-suffering and
full of compassion. Surely, we must come and say,
with regard to this heavenly shepherd, what a Saviour. What a Saviour, who is so kind
and gracious to go after us and come to us and deliver us and
to give His life that we might live. This is a wonderful picture
we have in the Word of God to encourage us. And further on
this chapter we read this, My sheep, hear my voice. There we may be far off The Saviour calls us. The Saviour
comes. We hear His voice. The voice of Jesus. My sheep hear my voice. He says,
and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. These wanderers These have gone
afar off. I give unto them eternal life. And here's the promise. And they
shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Man, under the influence of Satan,
may try and pluck you out. But my friends, once in Him,
in him forever, safe in the arms of Jesus. Oh, how encouraging
it is to have this picture of this heavenly shepherd who is
watching over us and bringing us safely back. You see, there
will only be one fold and one shepherd. And earlier in this
chapter we read As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." Many times, you
know, we have this picture of the Lord Jesus laying down his
life. How we underestimate the amazing
cost of our salvation. That the Lord of life and glory
was so willing to save our souls, as to lay down his life, those
of us who have wandered off, rebellious thou hast been, and
art rebellious still, but since in love I took thee in, my promise
I fulfill, I've bound thee up secure. There is security in
Christ. Another ship I have, which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Think of that. Joined together
by Christ. All his sheep, redeemed by blood,
will get safe home to glory. There will be none missing. Although
we have gone astray, Like a lost sheep, seek thy servant, for
I do not forget thy commandments." Well, surely
the apostle Peter was familiar with his situation. Wandered
away like a lost sheep. And he's able to tell us in his
epistle, he says, who did no sin, referring to
the Saviour, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when
he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins, our sins are wandering away,
in his own body, on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we, ye, were
healed. And then he says, for ye were
as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of your souls. Well, dear old Peter went astray,
didn't he? denied his Lord and Master three
times after just a few hours of saying that he would die with
him. We see there the weakness of the flesh. My friends, we
should never throw stones at Peter. We should realise that
we're no better. Left to ourselves, we will very
quickly and very readily deny Our Lord and Master. But what
did the Lord do? He looked upon Peter. What effect
did that have? It cut him to the heart. He went
out and wept bitterly. And if you've gone astray and
astray willingly, the Lord turns and
looks upon you and as it were shows you his hands and his feet,
all this was done for you, that I soften hearts of stone, that
I bear good effect upon you." He would understand the words
that the Apostle was able to say, now returned, now brought
back by the Heavenly Shepherd. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments." And then that familiar and very beautiful
psalm, the Shepherd's Psalm, Psalm 23. We know how true it
is. And what does he say? He restoreth
my soul. Restores my soul. This heavenly
shepherd. Can we bless God for restoring our soul. He comes and says, the Lord is
my shepherd. Remember this is David. David
who was much blessed. A man after God's own heart.
I shall not want him making me to lie down In green pastures
he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul."
Well, David, did you need restoring? Yes, he needed restoring. If
we need restoring, we can bless God that we have these testimonies
in the Word of God. That he was kind and gracious
and merciful. Didn't deal with David as his
sins deserved. Hasn't dealt with you and me
as our sins deserve. And bless God tonight, if we
can say, He restores my soul, and He leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for His name's sake, for His honour and glory,
my friends. That's what our life's for, for
His honour and glory. He says, Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Yes, the Lord was with him. And
bless God today, the Lord's with his people still. Thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table for me
in the presence of my enemies. There's plenty of enemies around.
Think of the Lord preparing a table in the presence of our enemies.
They can't stop it. The Lord does it. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over, the goodness of the Lord, for such an unworthy
sinner of the earth." And so he concludes, with the evidence
of these things, he's able to say, surely therefore, goodness
and mercy shall follow me. confidence in his God and my
friends when the Lord comes and shows us our situation and directs
us to our heavenly shepherd and the blessings that he gives to
us then we're able to come with some degree of confidence and
confirm with the psalmist surely therefore goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. Eternal safety, to be with Christ,
which is far better. So he says, I've got to stray
like a lost sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. He did not forget the way of
the Lord. The Lord kept him, the Lord directed
him, what a blessing it will be for us tonight, for able to
understand something of what the Psalmist records here for
our strengthening and encouragement we may be able to press on believing
that what occurs in the Psalmist we by faith may lay hold of to
and be able to come and say I have gone astray like a lost sheep
seek thy servant for I do not forget thy commandments. Amen.