Considering His Rod and His Staff

Considering His Rod and His Staff

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Psalm 23:4b: “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Considering the rod, we find the Hebrew word describes a stick that can be used for disciplining, writing, fighting, ruling or walking.  With his rod, the shepherd disciplines the sheep.  Discipline is not punishment.  Discipline proves direction, purpose, and wisdom. The shepherd guides his sheep.  He leads them to still waters, to places of peace and safety just as the Word of God directs us to the comfort and peace of the Holy Spirit.  In His Word, we find purpose for living.  We find wisdom.  We find hope. 

God’s Word is a mighty weapon.  Hebrews 4: 12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  The Word is the rod we must use in spiritual warfare.  The Word is both an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon. ).   The Word is a two-edged sword.

The Word is the ruling scepter of the Lord extended toward us.  The Word establishes His authority and the authority that He has given us in Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18

Interestingly, in Hebrew, the rod is also, figuratively, a clan.  It pictures the guidance, purpose, power and authority that is the synergy arising from unity.  May we take Psalm 133:1 to heart: “How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony.”  Our unity is a demonstration of our love.  Our unity is a testimony that the Father loves us just as He loves His Son (John 17:31).

It is the rod and the staff together that bring comfort on our life journey.  While the rod represents that which guides our life, the staff represents that which supports our life.  We lean on the staff, and there we find strength.  

  

The day after He had broken the loaves and fed the multitude, Jesus said to the crowds that had gathered, "'For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

'Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always.'

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:33-35).

When the rod touches us, we are enriched.    When we lean on the staff and ingest the bread of truth, we find ourselves at the table that He had prepared for us before the foundation of the world.  Then, even though we may be surrounded by our enemies, our cup of joy overflows and we rest in His eternal presence.