"I have wandered away like a lost sheep…” King David

My Personal Devotion today:  Friday 12-26-14 (At home in Modesto)

Scripture reading today: Ps 117, Ps 119:81-176, 2^nd John & 3^rd  John

S.  Ps 119:1-3 Happy are people of integrity, who follow the law of the LORD.  Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.  

Ps 119:9-10  How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying your word and following its rules.  I have tried my best to find you — don't let me wander from your commands.  Ps 119:176  I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.  NLT

O.  Psalm 119 is a prayer from the heart of David.  He starts with a brief introduction in verses 1-3 in which he establishes the purpose of this entire psalm.  ‘Happiness is a heart of integrity seeking after God with no compromise with evil, always giving importance, reverence and obedience to God’s word.’

Many a man has envied the life of a king, but nothing could be more stressful than to have the weight of an entire nation upon one’s shoulders.  On top of this, any person in a position of power is always in danger from those who seek to destroy him.  He lives in life-threatening danger continually.  This is obvious in the life of King David.

In this psalm David expresses what has sustained him throughout his kingship.  He has loved God’s word and sought to obey it and God has honored this and protected him. 

Throughout this, the longest psalm and the longest prayer in the Bible, he declares his desire to remain faithful to the Lord, his God.  He repeatedly defends himself as keeping God’s laws and his heart pure… but he closes… (verse number 176) with a personal confession… “I have wandered away like a lost sheep…”

A.  If I talk with the Lord long enough, if I seek Him with all my heart, if I “tarry” in His presence… there in the brilliant light of His purity, sooner or later every hidden sin, every dark spot stands out.  Both David and Ralph may go on and on in prayer trying to convince God how good we are, but… Oh the shock of it!  There in the x-ray brilliance of His brightness we see our spots and readily confess them.  After all is said and done, we are sheep that have strayed.

P.  Lord, You tire quickly of hearing me tell you how I have been a good boy today.  I do want to please you, but I cannot make the grade without Your intervention in my life.  So, Good Shepherd, please come and find me and rescue me from myself and from my pride.  Gather me up in Your tender loving arms and carry me to the celebration… to the party where straying sheep find forgiveness, shelter and love… love like no other love on earth!

Amen.