The Sheep of His Pasture

November 7

(Psalm 119:174-176 NIV) “I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. {175} Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. {176} I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.”

(Isaiah 53:3-6 NIV)  "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. {4} Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. {5} But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. {6} We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

(Genesis 3:6-9 NIV)  "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. {7} Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. {8} Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. {9} But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?""

(Luke 15:4-7 NIV)  ""Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? {5} And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders {6} and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' {7} I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

As the longest Psalm in the Bible comes to a close, the writer makes clear that saving souls is a priority of God. He knows the Lord, but still longs for the day when they will meet face to face. He lives to praise God, and when he dies, he knows he will still be praising God. Like a lost lamb, the Shepherd sought him out and will carry him home. We are all like lost sheep. We have wandered off and gotten lost. Every one of us must be found by God. We have all gone astray. But just as He did with Adam, the Lord comes looking for us. He calls out to us. He lays down His life to find us. He is wounded for us. He wants to save us. He wants to celebrate our being found. But we must answer His call. We must allow Him to find us and carry us home. The Psalm writer celebrates his being found. Have you? Will you? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day