Journal for Christ: The seven fold comfort of God's rod and staff

I needed to read this one again. In fact, as I was praying God drew me to view this entry and again He rescued me from my feelings of despair. How my Shepherd loves me and seeks my good continually. Perhaps you are in the throws of despair. I hope this entry will help you as it did me. Please post a comment if it did. Thank-you.

October 25, 2015:

Worship: None But Jesus by HillSong United

"None But Jesus"

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that you are God
In the secret of your presence
I know there I am restored
When you call I won't refuse
Each new day, again I'll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know you're sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do your will
When you call I won't delay
This my song through all my days

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

I am yours and you are mine...

All my delight is in you Lord
All of my hope
All of my strength
All my delight is in you Lord
Forevermore

A-Z Lyrics HILLSONG UNITED Lyrics

Video:

https://youtu.be/R9qoqQ75ifs

Witness:

Tough day. Tension fills the air. Trouble on the Homefront. The Devil is in full attack. My daughter and I can identify with the Apostle Paul:

For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within. 2 Cor 7:5 NIV

Our faith sorely tested. Tears dotted our eyes. Yet we testify with the Apostle:

But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us

2 Cor 7:6a NIV

Our continual profession:

In the chaos, in confusion
I know you're sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do your will
When you call I won't delay
This my song through all my days

Our eternal possession:

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus

Our lifelong procession:

Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

WORD:

A psalm o fDavid.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Even 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.
NIV

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 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.
KJV

Yesterday I spoke of 7 things I had gleaned concerning the “rod and staff”.

1. Protection

2. Support

3. Rescue

4. Inventory

5. Guidance

6. Preservation

7. Discipline

I mentioned that most believe these to be two different instruments the shepherd carried with them.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary says:

The rod was a club worn at the belt, while the staff was a walking implement that doubled as a weapon in time of need (1 Sam 17:35) and guided and controlled the sheep. These were traditional tools of the shepherd, as is shown already in a cylinder seal inscription of the third millennium.

Barnes says:

[Thy rod and thy staff] It may not be easy to mark the difference between these two words; but they would seem probably to refer, the latter to the "staff" which the shepherd used in walking, and the former to the "crook" which a shepherd used for guiding his flock.

Wiersbe says:

The rod was a heavy cudgel with which the shepherd could stun or kill an attacking beast, and the staff was the shepherd's crook, which he used to assist the individual sheep.

Three different commentaries and three different views on what each word refers to. One resource tells of another view, though it doesn’t necessarily agree with it:

The rod was a club used to drive away wild animals; the staff was a long stick used for support in walking. Kirkpatrick takes the two words to be a poetic description of the shepherd's crook, using two names for the one instrument. So FRCL* "your shepherd's rod, that is what reassures me." Most translations, however, have two different words. TEV has used the traditional "rod and staff"; but since there will be many readers who will not know what these are, TEV qualifies them with "Your shepherd's rod and staff."

* FRCL – French common language version (La Bible en francais)

With that thought in mind, I came across this little anecdotal story:

Psalms 23:4

The shepherd's rod and staff: -- In 1849 Dr. Duff was traveling near Simla under the shadow of the great Himalaya mountains. One day his way led to a narrow bridle path cut out on the face of a steep ridge; along this narrow path that ran so near the great precipice he saw a shepherd leading on his flock following him, but now and then the shepherd stopped and looked back. If he saw a sheep creeping up too far on the one hand, or going too near the edge of the dangerous precipice on the other, he would at once turn back and go to it, gently pulling it back. He had a long rod as tall as himself, round the lower half of which was twisted a band of iron. There was a crook at one end of the rod, and it was with this the shepherd took hold of one of the hind legs of the sheep to pull it back. The thick band of iron at the other end of the rod was really a staff, and was ready for use whenever he saw a hyena or wolf or some other troublesome animal coming near the sheep, for especially at night these creatures prowled about the flock. With the iron part of the rod he would give a good blow when an attack was threatened. In Ps 23:4, we have mention made of "Thy rod and Thy staff."

This is as good a description as any of the “rod and staff”. One instrument in the shepherd’s hand serving different needs of the sheep. So our great Shepherd wields the rod/staff according to our need.

Do we need protection? He wields it with a mighty hand and outstretched arm to ward off the attacking enemy.

Do we need rescue? Have we strayed from the flock and found ourselves caught in the thicket of sin? Have we fallen into a hole of despair? With the crook of His staff, he pulls us out.

Clarke says:

With the rod or crook the shepherd could defend his sheep, and with it lay hold of their horns or legs to pull them out of thickets, bogs, pits, or waters.

Do we fear He has forgotten us? Spurgeon quotes Obadiah Sedgwick, concerning the rod, who says:

[T]o reckon up or count the sheep; and in this sense they are said "to pass under the rod" (Lev 27:32), the shepherd tells them one by one. And even so are the people of God called the rod of his inheritance (Jer 10:16), such as he takes special notice or account of. And take the words in this sense — Thy rod doth comfort me — it holds well; q.d. "Though I am in such eminent dangers by reason of evil men, yet this is my comfort — I am not neglected of thee; thou dost not suffer me to perish; thou takest notice of me; thou dost take and make an account of me; thy special care looks after me."

I have spoken of guidance at length and some of discipline as well, but what of preservation? How are we preserved with His rod/staff? Again from the same person quoted above we have this insight:

[T]he sheep sometimes are petulante divagantes*, idly and inconsiderately straying from the flock, grazing alone, and wandering after other pastures, not considering the dangers which attend them by such a separation and wandering; and, therefore, the shepherd doth with his rod strike and fetch them in again, and so preserve them. In this sense also David might well say, "Thy rod doth comfort me;" for it is a great comfort that the Lord will not leave his sheep to the ways of discomfort, but brings them off from sinful errings and wanderings, which always do expose them to their greatest dangers and troubles. So that the words do intimate a singular part of God's gubernation** or careful providence of his flock.

* petulante divagantes – indolent, petulant wanderers

** gubernation – the act of governing or ruling (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gubernation)

Barnes says:

The "crook" is said to have been used to seize the legs of the sheep or goats when they were disposed to run away, and thus to keep them with the flock.

I have not mentioned support because I don’t see God as needing support. He is sure footed and steady. He never grows weary and never needs rest. However, Genesis 2:2 speaks of God “resting from His work” on the “seventh day” of the creation week. So, if I can take a little literary license here, I see our Shepherd leaning on His staff of rest when He has led me through a particular journey in my life. Is He pleased with how I made the journey? Is He pleased with the progress I have made? Surely He sees all that He has done or permitted as good according to Romans 8:28:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. NIV

If I can mix my metaphors as the JFB Commentary seems to it yields this observation:

The Word of God is at once a prop to support the child of God, and a defense against Satan and the powers of darkness

Just one more observation in connection with this verse. It is an observation that comes from Calvin in reference to “fear no evil”. He says:

Psalms 23:4

Yet David did not mean to say that he was devoid of all fear, but only that he would surmount it so as to go without fear wherever his shepherd should lead him. This appears more clearly from the context. He says, in the first place, I will fear no evil; but immediately adding the reason of this, he openly acknowledges that he seeks a remedy against his fear in contemplating, and having his eyes fixed on, the staff of his shepherd: For thy staff and thy crook comfort me. What need would he have had of that consolation, if he had not been disquieted and agitated with fear? It ought, therefore, to be kept in mind, that when David reflected on the adversities which might befall him, he became victorious over fear and temptations, in no other way than by casting himself on the protection of God. This he had also stated before, although a little more obscurely, in these words, For thou art with me. This implies that he had been afflicted with fear. Had not this been the case, for what purpose could he desire the presence of God? Besides, it is not against the common and ordinary calamities of life only that he opposes the protection of God, but against those which distract and confound the minds of men with the darkness of death. For the Jewish grammarians think that tsalmaveth, which we have translated the shadow of death, is a compound word, as if one should say deadly shade. David here makes an allusion to the dark recesses or dens of wild beasts, to which when an individual approaches he is suddenly seized at his first entrance with an apprehension and fear of death. Now, since God, in the person of his only begotten Son, has exhibited himself to us as our shepherd, much more clearly than he did in old time to the fathers who lived under the Law, we do not render sufficient honor to his protecting care, if we do not lift our eyes to behold it, and keeping them fixed upon it, tread all fears and terrors under our feet.

What a great comfort Thy rod and staff

For all my needs and fears and gaffs

You go before me on my behalf

Through verdant fields and quiet streams

On righteous paths where pleasures gleam

Or paths where darkness is the theme

You lead with your steady hand

And guide me, your precious lamb

Until I reach Your promised land!

Journal for Christ

Friday, May 20, 2016

The seven fold comfort of God's rod and staff

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