Thy rod and Thy staff: how they comfort Christ's sheep

Believers, have you noticed how even nominal christians are unable to escape memorizing Psalms 23? The Lord made it so😀 Our Saviour did not call us His sheep and Himself our Shepherd just to fill up space in the bible. He did so for us to see how hopelessly helpless we His sheep would be without Him. He Himself said "For without me you can do nothing."

King David, a former shepherd himself, understood that a sheep is totally dependent on its shepherd for its very existence. This is reflected throughout the popular Psalm. Remember verse 4:

...For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The rod of a shepherd used is for defending and protecting the sheep from predators and robbers. It is a weapon or tool to provide safety for the flock: Christ our Shepherd and His promise of protection for His sheep in all of Psalms 91. No matter how "careful" a sheep is, without the Shepherd's protection, it's only a matter of time before devourers devour it.

The staff is a slender stick with a hook or crook at one end, somewhat like those umbrella sticks with curved handles. It is used to hold the sheep during shearing, for gentle correction or re-directing when a sheep is going astray and to guide the sheep as they are moving along, because sheep tend to wander off. They always think the pasture is greener somewhere else, and they start to wander away.

The staff is also used in drawing sheep together into an intimate relationship with the Shepherd. It is very useful because the shy and timid sheep normally tend to keep at a distance from the shepherd; all of those times when we just don't feel like praying or reading the word, He draws us near with His staff.

Believers, by God's Grace, study the ways of shepherds with their sheep to get a revelation of Christ's love for us and how helpless we would be without Him.

Christ is not in the business of leaving His sheep that go astray to perish in their troubles. In Him, His rod and His staff they comfort us. Covered on every side! The Lord protects us His sheep and keeps us from going astray. His correction is for our profit, never harmful (Hebrews 12:4-11.) EVEN OUR GIVING (shearing of the sheep) is ordered by the Lord. In Christ, there is no escaping His goodness and mercy. Believers, our Lord and our God Jesus Christ wants nothing more than for you to be His sheep and He your Shepherd.

There is comfort in knowing that in Christ, we have His rod and His staff to comfort us. Live life loved by the Lord our Shepherd. He leads us on the path of righteousness. He keeps us from going astray. Our own human effort at doing right in order to be righteous (walking in the flesh) leads to death.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.

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