LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Psalm 119:176  “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant…”

As we come to the end of the longest chapter in the Bible, filled with praise, prayer, problems, and practical wisdom for maturing disciples, consider two culminating truths in the very last verse:

• All we like sheep have gone astray; every one of us has turned to his own way. (see Isaiah 53:6)
• The Savior is constantly seeking the lost. (see Luke 19:10)

What joy it brings to the heart of every child of God to know that the Savior is constantly seeking us when we wander. What blessing there is to be found in the words “seek your servant.” Is this not the heart of God?

My own heart is overwhelmed this morning with the indescribable love of God that compels Him to seek and save the lost. You can hear His heart throughout the Scriptures:

• Ezekiel 34:6, 16
  “My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”
• Matthew 18:12-14
  “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

From the very beginning of recorded history God has been seeking those who have wandered into sin.

“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9)

What a conclusion to this majestic symphony we call Psalm 119. All the music of the songs of praise and movements of prayer crescendo to this final chord – no matter where we go or what we do, God is seeking us!

My mouth bursts forth with songs of its own. “My Jesus, I love thee, I know Thou art mine. For thee all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; if ever I love Thee my Jesus ‘tis now.”

“I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree; I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

“I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death, And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

“In mansions of glory and endless delight, I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright; I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

ALL BECAUSE HE SOUGHT ME OUT AND SAVED ME!

Pastor John