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Psalm 119:176

I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.

174I have longed for your salvation, LORD. Your law is my delight.
175Let my soul live, that I may praise you. Let your ordinances help me.
176I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.
Notice

A lost sheep still remembers God’s commandments: the psalm ends with a servant asking to be sought, even after speaking of delight in God’s law.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

Where, if anywhere, do you recognize a gap between remembering God’s commandments and knowing your way?

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What would you want to name before God in the plea, “Seek your servant”?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Peter 2:25For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.Both describe going astray like sheep; the psalm asks God to seek, while Peter speaks of a return to the Shepherd.
Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.Both compare going astray to sheep, with Isaiah extending the confession to everyone turning to their own way.
Psalm 14:3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.Both speak of straying, though Psalm 14 describes widespread corruption and Psalm 119 preserves the lost servant’s remembrance of God’s commandments.
Psalm 23:3He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Psalm 119 asks God to seek a lost servant; Psalm 23 describes God restoring the soul and guiding in righteousness.
Luke 15:4“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, …The lost sheep and the search unite these passages: the psalm voices the plea, and Luke describes going after the sheep.
Luke 19:10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”The psalm’s lost servant asks to be sought; Jesus says the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
Psalm 119:67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.Both confess going astray and speak of regard for God’s word, though verse 67 describes affliction followed by obedience.
Matthew 18:12“What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has …Both describe a sheep gone astray and a search, with Matthew picturing a man going into the mountains to seek it.
Psalm 119:10With my whole heart I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.Both connect wandering with God’s commandments: one asks for protection from wandering, while the other asks to be sought after straying.
John 10:16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.Both use sheep to describe people, though the psalm asks to be sought and John speaks of bringing sheep into one flock.
Proverbs 3:1My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,Both link remembering with commandments: the psalm’s servant says he has not forgotten, and Proverbs urges the son to remember and keep.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. guilt and confession. wanting a steady prayer habit.

One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray “Seek your servant” before bed tonight

prayeroncelight
Encouragement

Remembering God’s commandments does not remove every need for help. The speaker admits being lost and still calls himself God’s servant, asking God to seek him.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 119:176. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 119 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).