A Last Look at Ps. 119

Today we are ending our look at Ps. 119. It has helped me to see what a heart passionate for God and his word looks like. I've learned the value of every aspect of God's word. But I don't always recognize it and live it. Neither did David, though he did a pretty good job… as the man after God's own heart. Yet, in the last verse of Ps. 119, David admits that he strayed. As you would expect, he shows the model of what to do in that case.

Here, savor with me the last four verses of Ps. 119.

Psa 119:173  Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.	Of course, in a crisis, people naturally call out to God for help. That's good, but it's also presumptuous for those who have no relationship with him to think he will answer. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Psa 66:18  But here, David is bold to ask for help because he has chosen God's precepts. May the following never be said of me: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Mat 15:8
(174)  I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.	God's salvation and his law are David's longing and delight. He lives with a conscious awareness of God and his word. Nothing else really matters. In fact, nothing else is real. It takes a mature person to get to the place where they can say, and pass on to others, as David did with his son Solomon:  For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: Prov. 6:23
(175)  Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.	David was determined to praise God as long as he was alive. That's a great resolve. And better if God's word is helping us along. It's easier to praise God when we're walking in the path of his word. Remember, we praise God because he is worthy and deserving, not because we feel good. Today I will praise him independent of my feelings and circumstances.
(176)  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.	In this last verse of Ps. 119, David admits he strayed from God. Don't we all? And how did he handle it? He admitted it and asked God to seek him. We know we are to seek God, but can we ask him to seek us? Yes, because he's a good shepherd. David knew about sheep. He himself was a shepherd (remember Ps. 23?). Shepherds seek lost sheep. It's perfectly OK to ask God to seek us when we go astray. "God, come to where I am and bring me back." It's refreshing to think of God as a seeker and not simply a demander. The fact that he sent Jesus to save us shows that He is a seeker of lost souls. Jesus himself saw us as sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36).