1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord
as long as I live.

-Psalm 23 (CSB)

The Lord is my Shepherd…even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

As we continue to meditate on what it means for the Lord to be our Shepherd, it’s important to fully understand what a shepherd is and how he/she does the work of shepherding.

I imagine that many of us, not shepherds ourselves, get to verse 4 and focus on the “even in the darkest valley, I won’t fear” part and then kind of skim over the rod and staff and head straight for the “comfort me” part.

But, if we’re to fully understand the comfort our Shepherd provides, we must be able to answer the question:

How are a rod and a staff comforting?

If you give the terms rod and staff a quick “Googling”, here’s what you’ll find:

• rod – a hefty wooden stick
• staff – a slender wooden stick often with a curve at the end (like the long hooks bad comedians are pulled off stage with in cartoons)

If you dig a little further into the task of shepherding, you’ll find that the rod is defensive in nature, for fighting off animals as well as for counting the sheep to make sure they are all there. The staff, on the other hand, is purely for guidance and rescue; it is also, according to some commentaries, only useful for sheep. The size and shape of it are not conducive to guiding horses or cattle or other livestock.

So, why does the Lord’s rod and staff give us, His sheep, comfort?

Because God is always faithful to defend us from harm, physical harm, emotional harm, spiritual harm, you name it. If we really stop and think about it, the purpose of a HUGE portion of the Bible is to make us aware of and defend us from the harmful impact of sin; all of God’s commands are designed to keep us free from the negative effects of our sin or others’ sin.

As if that were not enough, God sent His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, to receive the wages for our sin, which is death, because He desires to protect us from eternal torment in Hell and keep us safely with Him in Heaven.

And still He does more, God gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us day in and day out, to help us understand His Word, to convict us of our sin so we will know to repent, stop wandering, and come back to the Shepherd.

Oh friend, I don’t know about you, but I am thankful for the Shepherd’s rod and staff! I am thankful for all the times He has reached down into the mire, hooked His staff around my middle and pulled me back up! I am thankful for all of the times that He has used His rod to beat back temptation in my life, to make the enemy flee!

Truly our Shepherd is faithful and good!

His rod and His staff they comfort me!

I’ll see you next week as we continue meditating our way through Psalm 23 and what it means for the Lord to be our Shepherd.

Update: Our children’s musical ministry, which I direct, has just fired back up for the Christmas season. As we get rolling, I feel God’s leading to prioritize that work for a few weeks, so I may be writing every couple of days instead of every day. It is my hope and prayer that you understand the shifting focus as I attempt to steward both ministries well and will continue to walk with me through these devotions as I am able to make them available. To ensure you don’t miss anything, please consider signing up for email notifications below (the devotions go straight to your email!).