Your rod and your staff - they comfort me

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

Tonight as I was pottering about the house in the wee hours of the morning, I felt a pang of fear threaten to unseat my peace ... to which I uttered, "I will fear no evil ... for your rod and your staff - they comfort me." -- a verse I am very familiar with from Psalms 23.

And... in that moment, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something I had never seen before, and I was so excited! ... which is that the shepherd carries two implements, a rod and a staff. I always knew Psalm 23 to be a pastoral, peaceful psalm - and the shepherd carries a staff, to guide and care for us, His sheep. But suddenly, the Holy Spirit asked me, what is the shepherd doing with a rod?

So I did a quick search online, to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Yes, the rod and staff are separate implements.

This is what my googling threw up - among them, a short excerpt from the book "The Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by W Phillip Keller. He writes: "The staff is essentially a symbol of concern, the compassion that a shepherd has for his charges. No other single word can better describe its function on behalf of the flock better than that it is for their comfort. The rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger."

The Holy Spirit reminded me at that moment of Psalms 2, where God speaks of Jesus as King, Bridegroom and Judge. In that Psalm, it is said of Jesus, in reference to the rebelling heathen nations, that "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." A picture of a powerful, majestic, fearsome Lord.

Sometimes, like tonight, the Evil One tried to cause me to doubt if the Lord can keep me. It is almost as if he was tempting me to doubt if the Lord is powerful. So tonight, I was really really excited by what the Holy Spirit showed me from Psalms 23:4. Which is that even in a Psalm whose main focus is about God's love for us, His love for us is a fierce love that says to the Enemy, Don't mess with my sheep.

If you mess with my sheep, you will contend with my rod.

Prayer today: Oh Lord, thank you. This pierces my heart. You are a good, awesome God, and I am safe in your arms indeed. Hallelujah. Amen!