Your Rod and Your Staff - they comfort me

The title of this post comes from the well known Psalm 23.

Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel wrote Psalm 23. He is recording his own thoughts of his Lord as his Shepherd. David himself had been a shepherd in his youth; watching over his father’s flocks. So the picture he gives us in this psalm is that of himself as a sheep in the Lord’s flock.

Verse 4 is a declaration of supreme faith in his God. Even in “the valley of the shadow of death”, he states that “I will fear no evil.” The reason is that, You are with me.” Like the sheep following their shepherd, they know the shepherd will keep them from danger. While the shepherd is with them they have no need to fear.

“Your rod and Your staff”; these are separate items. The Lord’s rod is a rod of power and correction in our lives. The Lord’s staff is like a walking staff; it is there to lean on.

If we wander or go astray we may feel the rod of correction in our lives. If we find the way heavy going we have the Lord’s staff to lean on. What does King David say about the Lord’s rod and staff, “they comfort me.”

There are times in our lives when we need correction and there are times in our lives we need to lean on the Lord.

However, if we have faith like King David, the Lord’s rod and staff will comfort us and we need fear no evil; for the Lord is with us.

Jon Peasey

Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted]

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