Limitless Word
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
Psalms 119:176 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.
  • BSB I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
  • NKJV I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
  • NASB I have wandered about like a lost sheep; search for Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
  • NLT I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

He confesses he has strayed like a lost sheep and asks God to seek His servant, for he has not forgotten God's commandments. Even the devout need the Shepherd to find them.

Overview

The great psalm of devotion ends not in self-confidence but in humble confession: 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep.' Yet he still clings to God's commandments and pleads to be sought. This cry is gloriously answered in Jesus, the Good Shepherd who seeks and saves the lost sheep, laying down His life for them.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Luke 19:10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
  • Isa 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • Luke 15:4–7What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
  • John 10:16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
  • 1 Pet 2:25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
  • Matt 15:24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
  • Matt 18:12–13How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
  • Ezek 34:6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
  • Ps 119:93I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
  • Song 1:4Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
  • Ps 119:61The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.
  • Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
  • Ezek 34:16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
  • Gal 4:9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
  • Phil 2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
  • Matt 10:6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
  • Jer 31:18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
  • Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 119:176YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 119:176 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.