08022026 Rod and Staff

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our Great Shepherd. God cares for His sheep gently, but sometimes He also cares for them fiercely.

One night this week I was thinking again about Psalm 23, and as I came to verse 4, I had some new thoughts. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

My personal belief is that the psalm is a compilation of different things that the Shepherd does at different times. While it does end with a future-looking focus, I don’t see the psalm as a sequential timeline for life, but more cyclical. Life changes, and at some points we find ourselves in verse 2a and other times in 2b or 4a or 5c.

So I don’t think that the rod and staff comforting is necessarily connected to the walking through the valley, but in some cases it will be. I was thinking specifically about how those two concepts might be connected.

Usually I think of the rod and staff as God’s guidance and correction of me – of how He works to keep me on the right path. And that is comforting.

But here’s a thought. Might not the Shepherd also use those tools to attack the enemy? If a wolf or bear or lion comes after me, I have a Shepherd who defends me. So He raises that rod and brings in down in repeated blows upon the attacker, driving the enemy away, or even killing it. That is comforting.

Here’s another thought. Sometimes we get a certain picture of someone in our minds, and perhaps there is a particular image that sticks with us. For example, we might picture a judge with a gavel, a policeman with a revolver, a doctor with a stethoscope, a carpenter with a hammer, or a plumber with a wrench. We picture these men with a tool that represents their actions. There is comfort in that. We are comforted to think that each of those people knows how to effectively use his tool; it is their expertise with the tool that allows us to trust them.

In the same way, there is comfort in thinking of the Shepherd with His tools. They are symbols of His care and guidance and protection. They are tools that He uses effectively. I can trust His ability to use them on my behalf. I can trust that He is never without them, that He never loses them, that He never fumbles with them awkwardly, that He never needs to learn how to use them more effectively. Yes, there is comfort in knowing that my Shepherd has the right tools for the job and that He uses them consistently and effectively as He interacts with me. It’s a good way to picture Him.

May our good Shepherd lead you, guide you, protect you, and comfort you this week.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA