Psalm 119:176 – Seek Me

I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commands.

We have come to the last verse. For me, that’s 176 posts in as many days, each a meditation on one verse of Psalm 119.

This verse serves as an excellent conclusion to the Psalm, though it doesn’t really introduce a great deal that is new.

I think there are two critical points that are emphasized by its placement at the end, and its message.

First, we are again reminded that this is not a Psalm of self-sufficiency. It is not about telling God how wonderful you are, and how you, on your own, are going to get everything right. Sometimes verses from this Psalm are taught in that way, but if seen in the framework of the entire Psalm, the message is clear. The law is of great value. Keeping it is a good thing, but the life giver, and the one who makes righteousness possible is the one who gave the law.

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep,” says the poet of the law, much like the ordinary human acknowledges, “I have not kept my New Year’s resolutions” in the middle of January. In neither case does it mean the resolutions were bad or that it wouldn’t have been a good idea to keep them. It’s just that we’re all human. We all fail. We all need someone to seek us.

The Psalmist of the Law, knew who that was. It was the same God who gave the law in the first place. The lawgiver is also your savior and protector.

Second, we are again reminded of the value of the law itself. While the law cannot replace the lawgiver in any way, it is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a great thing.

I thought about whether the Psalmist might be saying that God should look for him because he did not forget. But it seems to me more likely that he’s indicating why he would pray that God would seek him. He doesn’t forget God’s commands. He is grateful to the lawgiver. He wants to be found.

We have a tendency to diminish the law in a number of ways. One way is to imagine the law can take the place of the lawgiver, that just keeping the law is all we need. Oh, it’s a tall order, but even if we could manage to keep all the law for a day, this would still not mean we reached God’s glorious purpose. It would, in fact, be the pursuit of an idol.

“What!” you exclaim.

Setting something less than God as an object of worship is idolatry. God has so much more than the accomplishment of a checklist for us. Putting the law in place of God is to worship mediocrity. In fact, all idolatry is worshiping and pursuing something less than what God has in mind.

It’s our most common form of wandering.

As you go forward today, pray the prayer of this verse. “Seek your servant!”