The Shepherd and His Word

Dear friends,

This Sunday we come to Tav, Psalm 119:169–176, the twenty-second and final stanza of Psalm 119. We began this journey months ago with Aleph and the words, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!” (v 1). Since then, we’ve walked through 168 verses about God’s Word, and now only eight remain.

I’ve wondered all along how the psalmist would end this magnificent psalm. After everything he has said about the beauty, truth, righteousness, goodness, power, and permanence of God’s Word, what would his last word be? Maybe praise? Victory? Confidence? A grand declaration that he has finally arrived at the blessed life? Instead, Psalm 119 ends with these words, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments” (v 176). I find that so interesting.

After 175 verses about loving God’s Word, keeping God’s Word, hoping in God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word, delighting in God’s Word, and obeying God’s Word, the psalmist’s final picture of himself is a lost sheep who needs his Shepherd to come looking for him. And I think that may be one of the most important lessons in the entire psalm.

The Word-centered life doesn’t ultimately produce a person who says, “Look how strong I’ve become.” It produces someone who increasingly realizes, “Look how sufficient God is.” We’ve seen that movement repeatedly during these months. Kaph ended with the psalmist stripped of self-reliance and praying, “In your steadfast love give me life.” Pe showed us that the

more light God’s Word gives us, the more clearly we see the darkness within ourselves, our dependence upon grace, and the brokenness around us. And just last week, Sin and Shin ended with the psalmist living coram Deo, all his ways before God. Now Tav brings all of that together.

The stanza begins with prayer: “Let my cry come before you, O LORD” (v 169).

That word “let” keeps appearing. “Let my cry come before you.” “Let my plea come before you.” “Let my lips pour forth praise.” “Let my tongue sing.” “Let your hand be ready to help me.” “Let my soul live and praise you.” That’s real dependence.

The psalmist has spent 168 verses learning God’s Word, and what has all that learning

taught him to do? Pray, dependent on God, for the life only God can give.

He needs God to give him understanding (v 169). He needs God to deliver him (v 170). He needs God to teach him (v 171). He needs God’s hand to help him (v 173). He needs God’s salvation (v 174). He needs God to give him life (v 175). And finally, he needs God to seek him (v 176). That may be the great surprise of Tav. The closer this man walks with God, the more conscious he becomes of his dependence on God.

And yet that dependence doesn’t discourage him. Look at all the praise. “My lips will pour forth praise” (v 171). “My tongue will sing of your word” (v 172). “Let my soul live and praise you” (v 175). So, the final stanza contains both dependence and delight. He needs God desperately, and he delights in God deeply.

Then we reach v 176 which reads, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant.” What an ending. Psalm 119 doesn’t end with the sheep finding the Shepherd. It ends with the sheep asking the Shepherd to find him.

And, of course, you and I know this takes us to Jesus, who says, “I am the good

shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). That’s where the entire journey has been taking us. The blessed life of Psalm 119 ultimately leads us beyond ourselves to Jesus. We need more than a Bible in our hands. We need the Shepherd who comes after wandering sheep, lays down His life for them, gives them life, and brings them home. I think that gives us a beautiful way to finish the series, and here’s what I think that will look like on Sunday.

The Shepherd and His Word Psalm 119:169–176

Tav

Big Idea: The Word-centered life teaches us to depend on God, delight in His truth, and trust our Shepherd to keep seeking us when we wander.

First: Let’s Depend on God’s Word (vs 169–170)

The stanza begins on the psalmist’s knees. He cries for understanding and deliverance. After everything he has learned, he still needs God to teach him. That’s spiritual maturity. The Word has taught him how much he needs the God of the Word.

Second: Let’s Delight in God’s Word (vs 171–172)

Dependence gives way to praise. His lips “pour forth praise,” and his tongue sings of God’s Word. The Word he has studied has become the song of his heart. That’s something I hope has happened to us during these months. We began wanting to know Psalm 119 better. I hope we end up loving the God of Psalm 119 more.

Third: Let’s Choose God’s Word (vs 173–175)

The psalmist says, “I have chosen your precepts” (v 173) and “Your law is my delight” (v 174). There is something wonderfully intentional here. After everything the psalmist has experienced, he still chooses God’s way. He longs for salvation, delights in God’s law, and asks God to let him live so that he can continue to praise God. That’s the blessed life. We receive God’s Word, treasure God’s Word, choose God’s Word, and increasingly live God’s Word.

Fourth: Let’s Trust the Shepherd of the Word (v 176)

Then comes the confession we might least expect: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” After 175 verses, he still wanders. But don’t miss what comes next as the psalmist writes, “seek your servant.” There is the gospel. The gospel, the good news, is that God is sufficient. He really can save us. And he really does.

The hope of the blessed life has never rested on the sheep’s ability to stay close enough to the Shepherd. Our hope rests upon the Shepherd who seeks His sheep. And Jesus tells us exactly what kind of Shepherd He is. He knows His sheep. He calls them by name. He lays down His life for them. And He says, “no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

So Psalm 119 ends in exactly the right place. It ends with grace. The psalmist loves God’s Word, but he still needs grace. He chooses God’s precepts, but he still needs grace. He praises God, but he still needs grace. He has walked the Aleph-Tav journey, but at the end of the road he still needs his Shepherd. And so do you and I.

Maybe that’s the final lesson we should carry away from Psalm 119. A Word-centered life doesn’t make us less dependent upon Jesus. It makes us more dependent upon Him. The more clearly we see God’s holiness in His Word, the more clearly we see our need. And the more clearly we see our need, the more precious our Shepherd becomes.

Months ago, when we began this journey, I told you that I was praying God would use Psalm 119 to give our people “a hunger and thirst for God’s word, for daily time with him and for living the blessed life.” That’s still my prayer. But I think I’d add something to it now.

My prayer is that after 176 verses, we love the Bible more because through it we have come to love Jesus more. I pray we know His voice better, follow Him more closely, trust Him more completely, and when we wander, run back to the Shepherd who came looking for us in the first place. So,

Aleph began, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless.”

Tav ends, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant.”

And between those two statements lies the Christian life. God’s Word shows us the

blessed way, God’s grace meets us when we fail to walk it perfectly, and our Good Shepherd faithfully brings His sheep safely home. What a journey this has been.

Thank you, my dear friends, for walking through it with me, and for faithfully shepherding your Community Groups through these 176 verses. My prayer is that Psalm 119 will remain with you and our people long after this sermon series ends.

Well, that’s “The View from My Study” for Tav. There is one stanza left. Only eight verses remain. And then our journey through this magnificent psalm will be complete.



See you in the Connect and on Wednesday night to listen to Bill and Jen Nelson share about Heritage’s work in Africa through Africans Reaching Africa.

In the love of Jesus for you and me, Pastor Reggie

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