Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, , Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above. About a year ago, I heard this hymn for the first time in my life. You may be wondering if I have been living under a rock or something because of the lack of personal exposure to hymns, and the answer would be yes. I had been under a contemporary praise and worship rock of sorts for a few decades. I had very little exposure to hymns through the years and am still very much lacking in this area, but I am growing in this as I love to praise and worship the Lord in song. This one in particular strikes a cord with me. I have to warn you that I tend to jump on a soapbox at times about “man centered worship music” as it is an epidemic in our day and time. However, listening to this hymn, I am moved to tears, overwhelmed by the understanding of the grace and mercy of God toward me. It is at this point in the song that a flood of thanksgiving and sobriety simultaneously rush in with the understanding of my need for the Good Shepherd.

I can tell you what specific Bible verse changed the course of my life. I call it the “one degree verse”. The saying goes that if a ship were charted for a long journey and was directed off course by even one degree, that ship would arrive thousands of miles away from its intended destination. While we are not talking about ships, I was a sheep that had been wandering without realizing it. However, that one verse, though misappropriated at the time, changed my course and my life. The Lord used it to get my attention: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27). I have heard a minister give the analogy of a sheep grazing with the other sheep when suddenly, that sheep hears the voice of the Shepherd. The grazing stops, and they perk up their head. That was me. That one degree verse would draw me back to Christ and to the narrow gate. The powerful truth of the Word is like the staff of the Shepherd, and it keeps us close to Him and away from danger. When I think upon that moment, there is overwhelming gratitude.

You see, we need a shepherd. But not just any shepherd. If that were the case, then we would have the notion to shepherd ourselves, and indeed, I have attempted that at times in my life without recognizing it. God has been patient and kind to me while bringing correction. There can be the temptation to want the Shepherd without the staff because the Word of God brings a correction of course. But a correction of course is necessary at times. Sheep are prone to wander. This is why they need the Shepherd, and this is why we are equated to sheep in the Word. We are prone to wander off looking for greener pastures. We are prone to wander off onto dangerous paths and to spiritually eat things that could be detrimental and even deadly. And even still there are other ways that we wander and are prone to leave the God we love.

We wander away at times by not trusting His ways. We wander into worry rather than casting our cares upon Him. We wander away when entertaining sinful desires of the heart and flesh. Yes, we desperately need the Good Shepherd. We need Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:6 says, “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.” We are reminded in the Word of our need for Christ and for forgiveness, guidance, mercy, grace, and love. Without Him, we are dead and lost. With Him, we are alive and found. What a glorious Savior!

So, I come back to this hymn, reflecting on the Good Shepherd and my own need for Him, desiring to be continuously sanctified by Him while being a sojourning sheep in this world. I acknowledge before the Lord my wandering heart and the need for it to be sealed for His courts. I thank the Good Lord that He allowed me to hear His voice through the Word of God. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy court’s above.

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