“Let my cry come before you, O Lord;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word,
for all your commandments are right.
Let your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
Let my soul live and praise you,
and let your rules help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.” (Psalms 119:169-176 ESV)
We don’t know for certain who the author of Psalms 119 is. Many presume it to be David. It sounds like his writing. But before I get into these final verses of the Psalm, I want to do a character assessment of the Psalmist. He was a man who sought God with his whole heart, who earnestly desired to obey the commands of God in every way, and who sought the help of God in order that he might not stray from the Lord and his commandments. And he was opposed by the insolent who did wander from the commandments of God.
He was a man of God who had chosen the way of faithfulness and who walked in the ways of the Lord and of his commandments. He desired to be taught by the Lord and to be led by the Lord in the ways in which he was to walk. And he prayed diligently that he would not be led astray, and that he would not give in to the flesh because of his persecutors, and because of the affliction that he was having to endure at their hands. For the insolent utterly derided him for his faith and for his commitment to serve the Lord.
He said that before he was afflicted that he went astray, but even though the insolent utterly derided him, his claim was that he did not turn away from the law of God, but that he was faithful in keeping God’s commandments. In fact, he was indignant with regard to the wicked who did forsake the law of the Lord. Even though the cords of the wicked ensnared him, he still kept the Lord’s precepts, and he said that he was a companion of those who feared the Lord, of those who kept the precepts of God. He said,
“I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.” (Psalms 119:101-104 ESV)
I have read through the entire Psalm and what I see all throughout the Psalm is a man whose life is dedicated to following the Lord in obedience to his ways and who keeps the ways of the Lord. But he also has enemies who are persecuting him without cause. And so he is calling on the Lord all throughout the Psalm to help him through his time of persecution so that he would not yield to temptation to wander from the commandments of God. But there is no indication that he is being tempted toward moral failure.
I think his biggest battle was with those who were his persecutors who hounded him continuously, it appeared, and who did not keep the commandments of God, but who made evil their practice. But there is no indication that I see that he was being tempted to join them in their evil. His mind was set on the Lord and on obeying the Lord, and he truly hated evil, and he was indignant with regard to the wicked who did forsake the law of the Lord. So there is no indication that he was being drawn to their evil.
If anything, I think his temptation might have been more in the area of “losing his cool,” i.e. “to suddenly become very angry or upset, or to behave in an uncontrolled or bad-tempered way” (source: Google), because he was severely being oppressed by his persecutors who seemed relentless. And this is why he was praying for deliverance from his persecutors, because the weight of it all was so oppressive. And our human minds and bodies can only endure so much, right? So we need the help of God in these times.
But even in the midst of all the persecutions and the afflictions he was encountering, still he praised the Lord, and he called upon the Lord, and he determined to keep praising the Lord with his lips, and to sing of the Word of the Lord. For he had chosen the ways of God. He had chosen the precepts (the commands) of the Lord. The law (commandments) of the Lord were his delight. So to end this long song of praise to the Lord, and his continual declarations of faithfulness to the Lord, in this way, is confusing.
So, what he meant by “I have gone astray like a lost sheep” seems out of context to the whole rest of the 175 verses of the Psalm. For when he said, “I do not forget your commandments,” I don’t believe he is speaking merely intellectually here. The context of the whole of the Psalm was that he did not forget to keep the commandments of the Lord. His life was committed to the Lord and to obeying his commandments, and he stated multiple times that he was, indeed, keeping (obeying) the commands of the Lord, in practice.
So, what could he have meant? I don’t think that any of us can say with any certainty, especially since the whole Psalm indicated that he had once gone astray, before he was afflicted, but that now he kept the word of the Lord. And there he stated (vv. 65-72) that it was good for him that he was afflicted, that he might learn the statutes of the Lord. And sometimes that is what we all need, the disciplines of the Lord in our lives to keep us steadfast in faith and in obedience and in service for our Lord.
But whether or not the Psalmist was indicating in verse 176 that he had currently gone astray, or that he was making another reference to when he had previously gone astray, I don’t believe it is absolutely solidified as to his meaning, based on the whole of the Psalm. Perhaps the indication was that he had finally caved to all the persecution and maybe he said something he should not have said. Maybe he “blew it,” i.e. he failed in some way to react to his circumstances in what he believed was the right way.
But all the words leading up to this last statement seem to indicate that he was going in the right direction. So, what can we learn from this? What can be our “takeaway” from this lesson? For one, I believe that we should not be overconfident ever about our walks of faith, for the Scriptures teach that we are to take heed if we think we stand lest we fall (1 Co 10:12-13). We should always realize that we are still human beings and that we are still capable of sin, and so we need to have on the armor of God every day.
But, like the Psalmist, we must recognize our vulnerabilities and of our need for the help of the Lord, especially in times when we are being faced with persecutions or severe trials to test our faith. And he did call upon the Lord continually to be his strength and his help in his spiritual battle against the enemy forces coming against him. But we must also be determined, with the strength we receive from the Lord, to keep following the Lord, and to keep obeying him, and to keep sharing his gospel, despite all opposing forces.
[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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