December 9, 2025
Sheep Gone
Astray
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he
was pierced for our transgressions; he was
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned—every one—to his own way; and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
I S A I A H 5 3 : 4 - 6
At the very end of Psalm 119, having rejoiced for 175 verses in
the Word of God, we make this humbling confession, “I have gone
astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant” (v. 119:176).
How fitting is that? If there’s ever a time when it seems we
should not be going astray, it’s when we have been walking on
the Lord’s long highway of Psalm 119. Yet even then, we lose our
way. We mortals are like that: wayward and weak, wandering off
to graze on poisonous weeds when our Shepherd has made us lie
down in green pastures.
So Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned—every one—to his own way” (v. 6). Every sheep does
what is right in his own eyes. One is surrounded by wolves. Another teeters on a cliff edge. Still another is bogged down in mud.
That is why the Servant of Isaiah 53 does not show up to lend
us a hand, to give us some sound advice on how to kick-start our
self-salvation. He doesn’t even ask us if we want to be saved. He
just does it.
For all of us lost sheep, homeless in our own ways, our
Good Shepherd becomes the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world.
Our griefs, he bears. Our sorrows, he carries.
For our transgressions and iniquities, he is pierced and crushed.
In taking our sin away, he restores us to the safety of his flock and
brings us home.
Jesus, from cradle to grave, was soaking up the sickness, suffering, and sin of the world. His entire life was a saving swap. He
takes our bad and gives us his good, that we might forever be the
lambs of his flock and the sheep of his pasture.
GOOD SHEPHERD, FIND US, CARRY US HOME, AND ALWAYS
KEEP US CLOSE TO YOU, FOR IN YOUR
WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED. AMEN.
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Coming Home for Christmas: Advent in Isaiah © 2025 1517
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