Only God can Untangle

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.” (Ps 119:176 AV)

Unfortunately, this is the way of man.  We go astray when we are tempted from our walk with God.  This happens often.  Sometimes it is severe.  There are three truths we can observe.  First, the way of man is to stray.  That is what we are.  Isaiah tells us that we all, like sheep, have gone astray.  Salvation does not fix this.  It merely makes it far less frequent.  Secondly, even though we stray, we have not lost the knowledge of God’s ways.  The writer, even though he has strayed from the LORD, he still retains knowledge of God’s commandments.  The implication is a desire to return to them.  Thirdly, and to our point, this morning is the request found in this verse.  That is, the writer asks the LORD to seek him.  Not the other way around.  This seems a bit out of our normal way of thinking.  If we are the ones who strayed, it would stand to reason we would be the ones to return.  The problem is, for the most part, we neither have the ability or know-how to do so.  This is certainly true in salvation.  But this is also equally true after salvation.

Having had dogs most of my adult life, I have had many experiences of an animal getting into trouble that he could not escape from.  That is, on his own.  One such dog we named Camo.  He was my son’s dog and as those things go, I inherited him.  Camo was a mix of fox hound and beagle.  He was 100% hunting dog.  He would lay at the back patio windows staring out at the birds at the bird feeder and the occasional rabbit that traipsed through our backyard.  We had a chain attached to a tree in the front and when he wanted outside, that is where we took him.  He would often stand on a tree stump and keep watch over every critter within his gaze, including the cattle across the street.  One morning, my pretty little wife took Camo out.  She had him as we always did on a retractable leash.  It was slippery out and Camo noticed a cat, or rabbit, or squirrel, or fly in the front yard and took off after it.  Camo was about sixty pounds of pure muscle and Lisa was standing on some black ice.  Down she went and off Camo went.  He chased whatever it was for about a hundred yards into a small wood lot.  Leash in tow.  Lisa did not see where he went so, we began to look for him.  Then we heard him bark.  Apparently, he had gotten the leash tangled around a tree.  That rabbit ran in circles, as rabbits are accustomed to doing, and Camo wrapped himself around a tree.  Even if he wanted to come back to where he had food, water, and shelter, he could not figure out how to get himself where he wanted to go.

We can get ourselves in pretty good fixes.  Fixes that we have no clue on how to escape.  Even if they are spiritual fixes, only the Holy Spirit can get us free.  This is David’s request.  He is asking the LORD to come to find him and lead him back.  He does so because he has not forgotten the commandments of the word of God and they seem far more desirable than his present state of being astray.  Either he doesn’t know the way, or he does not have the means or both.  The request for God to seek him is not limited to being found.  This ‘seeking’ implies returning.  Returning to obedience to the commandments he has not forgotten.  This is where we are.  Many times over.  The inner man has a desire to live in obedience to the word of God, but the old man gives us problems.  Those problems cause us to go astray and when we do, only the LORD can bring us back.   To this end, we should pray.  And pray often.