Psalm 119:169–176 169TAU. Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: Give me understanding according to thy word. 170Let my supplication come before thee: Deliver me according to thy word. 171My lips shall utter praise, When thou hast taught me thy statutes. 172My tongue shall speak of thy word: For all thy commandments are righteousness. 173Let thine hand help me; For I have chosen thy precepts. 174I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; And thy law is my delight. 175Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; And let thy judgments help me. 176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; For I do not forget thy commandments.
I was a teenage boy attending a Christian high school chapel service where a choir from a school for wayward girls was singing.
I admit I was paying more attention to this chapel service than normal, I was single and searching, so a big ole group of girls my age guaranteed the bald believer’s attention.
(FYI – I was not a bald believer back then; I had some hair and as a matter of fact, I wasn’t yet a true believer.)
What they said, sang, and did that day made quite the impression on me as a teenage boy.
A few of the girls gave sad testimonies of their childhood experiences of abuse and parental neglect but most of the girls told how they had come from great homes and had loving parents. Despite their varied backgrounds, each had gone on empty searches to fill the emptiness of their lives with sin.
Some had turned to drugs and alcohol, others tried sex or some other vice but every single one shared how they were left dissatisfied and devastated by their prodigal experiences.
After the testimonies were completed, they sang together with about as much passion as I have ever heard from teens.
Here are the words to the chorus of their song.
...I'm the one the Shepherd left the fold and found.
There were ninety and nine, but He left the fold to find
One little lost lamb…
It was at this point that they all lifted a hand of testimony and raised the volume of their voice and then sang
“…and here I am.”
Yes, the theatrics were well planned and synchronized but the point really hit home. These young ladies all had a shared experience, they had wandered in sin but were sought out by a loving Savior!
“One little lost lamb, and here I am”
I felt the Lord speak to me via those young voices that day. My heart burned within me and warm tears ran down my face.
Ya see those girls were not alone in their shared experience.
Is that not what the Psalmist testifies in our text?
Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; For I do not forget thy commandments.
“There was one little lost lamb, and here I am”, is that not what the prophet Isaiah taught?
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Our Lord himself told the story of a shepherd that left a flock of many to find and carry home the one wayward lamb.
Luke 15:4–7 4What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
The testimony of those young ladies is surely the testimony of us all.
We all have gone astray but the Good Shepherd sought us out and rescued us from ourselves.
You can’t see me right now but I am lifting up my hand toward Heaven and singing,
“There is one, little lost lamb AND HERE I AM!”
How about you?
Have you also left the fold?
Have you searched for satisfaction in sinful things too?
Great news, the Savior is searching for you!
Lift up your hands to him today and say it, HERE I AM!
Scripture Readings for 11/11/20