May the mumbling commence!
Do the rod and staff of our Great Shepherd comfort you? Today’s reading from the chronological Bible that I am reading includes Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd" is known by many who do not frequent church. The psalm is often used to comfort. And the line from Psalm 23 that deals with comfort is in the second half of verse four. Read the words: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The rod and staff of a shepherd are the basic tools. What are they for? Phillip Keller has written a book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. In chapter eight, Keller speaks about the rod and staff. Here is what he writes about the rod:
It stood as a power of symbol of his strength, his power, his authority in any serious situation. The rod was what he relied on to safeguard both himself and his flock in danger. And it was, furthermore, the instrument he used to discipline and correct any wayward sheep that insisted on wandering away (95).
It seems easy to me to take comfort in a rod that is used for my protection – but not so easy to take comfort in a rod used for my discipline and correction. Wouldn’t a sheep fear the correction of the rod of the shepherd? Keller equates the rod with the Word of God. Much of the wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible speaks of fear of the Lord being the beginning of wisdom. Perhaps, it is this kind of fear we need to cultivate.
And, as the writer of the letter of Hebrews tells us, we should take comfort in the Lord’s discipline because the Lord only disciplines his children (12:7-11). Read especially verse 11 from Hebrews 12: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
This comfort from the rod helps to explain David’s reaction to Shimei’s cursing as David fled from his son Absalom. Read from 2 Samuel 16:11-13 –
David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today."
So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt.
David accepted the curses, the stones, and the dirt hurled by Shimei as if they were the rod of correction from his Great Shepherd that David wrote about in Psalm 23. He took comfort in these things – maybe the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.
What about the shepherd’s staff? What was its function? The staff is a symbol of the concern of the shepherd – longsuffering and kind. Keller equates the staff with the Spirit of God. Keller lists three uses for the staff. One: The shepherd uses the staff to draw his “sheep together into an intimate relationship” (100). Two: the shepherd uses his staff to draw the sheep near to him for close inspection (100). Three: The shepherd uses his staff to gently guide the sheep along the path or through a gate or along some difficult route. Its gentle touch on our backs assures us that we are on the right path (100-101).
Let us receive comfort from the rod and staff of our Great Shepherd. Comfort comes from the protection and discipline of the rod of God’s Word. Comfort comes from the invitation to draw near to our fellow sheep and to draw near to the Shepherd. Comfort comes from gentle guidance on the paths of righteousness and a sure knowledge of the Shepherd’s delight and presence through the Spirit of God. Let us give thanks for our Great Shepherd this day and always.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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