169 Let my cry [bv]come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
170 Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your [bw]word.
171 Let my lips utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
172 Let my tongue sing of Your [bx]word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your hand be [by]ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.
As this chapter comes to a close, we are reminded to bring our requests to God (169-170), great or small, don’t wait, take it to Him. In 171-172, then we are encouraged to praise Him for His word and guidance. Daily, we should long for His law (174), commandments (172), and precepts (173), for they guid us on the right path (175). And they the psalmist goes off in left field, quite literally.
In verse 176, He has “gone astray like a lost sheep”. Though we sometimes think of sheep as cute and cuddly, and think, “awww, we are His sheep, and He cares for us”, being compared to sheep is not a compliment. The psalmist is saying that he does foolish things, very, very foolish things, and acts like a lost sheep.
Many animals can find their way home, some travel across the globe without fail. Yet sheep get lost and go astray so easily, it’s almost comical–if it weren’t for the terrible danger they might get into. So it is with us, we know His commandments, we’ve vowed not to forget them, and before we know it, we’re off in left field with the psalmist and his sheep.
Yet, our the mindset above is accurate in one thing, He cares for His sheep like no one else. Shepherds have to be dedicated to their sheep, or they won’t be shepherds long, and God takes it to the extreme. God laid down his own Son for His flock, and as the psalmist prayed (176), He does indeed seek us out when we are lost.
However, as I mentioned at the beginning, we need to cry out to Him. How does the shepherd find his sheep? By their cry! We need to be call upon God, and He will be there in an instant to rescue us, to be our salvation. And also, to continue to teach us understanding, so that we learn from our mistakes, and stick close to the Master Shepherd. He will lead us, if only we will follow.