"Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." But how?

Believers, consider Psalm 94:19 - "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." See the Good News Translation: "Whenever I am anxious and worried, You comfort me and make me glad."

This verse is from a Psalm of David. But how does this "comfort" come about for us when we are beset with worries and anxieties that lead to depression (See Proverbs 12:25- "Anxiety leads to depression, but a good word encourages.")? We find this in another Psalm of David, the popular Psalm 23:

"4 Yea, 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."

How we are comforted in Christ is expressed in the relationship between a real life shepherd and his sheep. Our Saviour did not call us His sheep and Himself "The Good Shepherd" just to fill up space in His word. He did so for us to see how hopelessly helpless we His sheep would be without Him, just as real life sheep are without a shepherd. In Him, we are wonderfully loved, protected and provided for.

Did you know that whenever a sheep gets "cast" (falls on its back with all four legs in the air,) it can never right itself on its own? This is a picture of what happens to the believer (Christ's sheep) whenever he falls. See John 6:

"43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End..."

The Good Shepherd sets His sheep right. After righting His sheep, the Shepherd holds it steady until it regains its bearings or else it will topple over again!

There is nothing worse than a cast sheep that has no Shepherd aka a believer that falls into sin of trouble, feels he has to obey the law to right himself with God and has been cut off from Christ The Good Shepherd. Wild animals aka the sheep's adversary aka Satan the devourer and his agents are always seeking such fallen sheep so that they can devour it.

But how does a believer get cut off from Christ? Definitely not by sinning as many believe. Christ came to "save His people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21.) Galatians 5:4 tells us how to get cut off from Christ:

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."

Law and Grace don't mix. One cannot say "I will do my best to be obedient and Jesus will see that I have tried and consider me." This is to be "neither cold nor hot." Trying to obey the law to get into God's good books even just a little bit is rejecting what Christ did to put us in right-standing with God. No salvation here. No matter how "careful" a sheep is, without the Shepherd's guidance and protection, it's only a matter of time before it gets "cast" (falls in a position from which it cannot rise by itself.) Devourers seek it out to devour it alive, hence 1 Peter 5:8-

"Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

This verse is often quoted separately but see it in context with the preceding verse 7:

“7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

These verses are often quoted separately so when we hear verse 8 alone, we think it's up to us to save ourselves from being devoured! We who can do nothing without Christ. The way to escape this devouring is to cast all of our cares on Jesus our Shepherd. Satan can only devour those who are trying to save themselves with puny efforts at obeying the law in order to be godly. 

The "neither cold not hot" message of “Now that you are born-again, you have to do your best to obey the law so that you won’t lose your salvation” is prevalent in many churches today so be sober, be vigilant: watch out for preachers of this mixture e.g. many profess Christ but accuse believers of being under generational or other curses and tell them to "come fasting" so that they can be redeemed from the curse, all of this when "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law...." according to Galatians 3:13.

Also those who keep you focused on trying to obey the law and doing "good things" in order to get right with God when we are made righteous by Christ's obedience according to Romans 5:19. This is how to get cut off from Christ and where the devil can devour!

Christ 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 and for it to thrive. So what does "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" mean for Christ's sheep?

The rod of a shepherd is used 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.

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; aka 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. He lifts us out of the "cast" position of our fearful thoughts and anxieties that lead to depression. Bear in mind what Christ said in John 10:11-

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep."

The Parable of the Lost Sheep shows us that the Lord our Shepherd is not in the business of disflocking, beating or abandoning His sheep that go astray or leaving us to the devices of the devourer. His eyes never leave us. His rod and His staff they comfort us. Covered on every side! The Lord protects us His sheep and keeps us from going astray. Our Abba Father's correction is for our profit and that we might live, according to Hebrews 12; never harmful and never with any of the things that He gave His own Son to save us from. 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 as Christ's sheep, we have His rod and His staff to comfort us ALWAYS, even when all seems to be going downhill and it looks like the lion already has us in its mouth. He saves us always. Remember what David said to Saul as Saul tried to dissuade him from facing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17: 34-37:

"34....David said, “I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, 35 I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death."

36 I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. 37 The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; He will save me from this Philistine.”

Just imagine what was going on in the mind of the lamb that David saved while it was in the mouth of the lion or bear: a racing heart, acute fear and anxiety like many of us deal with today as we get carried off by lions and bears of bills to pay, poor (health) prognoses, work targets, kids' homework, the safety of our loved ones, acts of sin and addictions, imperfections and what other people think of us! The lamb can do nothing to save itself. David here is a picture of Christ. One with Him and not cut off by trying to make ourselves right with God by doing what the law commands, He says to us:

“I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, 35 I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death."

The lamb cannot rescue itself from the mouth of the lion. Only Christ can rescue you from all your anxieties that cause depression and their causes. By grace believe, "for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23.

Also consider verse 36-37 of 1 Samuel 17- “I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. 37 The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; He will save me from this Philistine.”

The "Philistine" here represents anything that puts terror in you or causes you to worry, just as Goliath put terror in the hearts of the Israelites with his massive size and constant reproach.Jesus Christ "The same yesterday, today and forever" will save you from all that strikes terror in you.

Believer, know that no matter the turmoil that is going on in your heart right now, no matter the multitude of worries and anxieties that beset you because it seems like life's problems are carrying you away, like a shepherd with its sheep that gets in trouble, even troubles of its own making, Jesus Christ The Good Shepherd will never condemn you, leave you to get yourself out of the pit or ask you to go and sow seed or fast before He rescues you. He will save you. In Him, we don't GIVE TO GET; we GET TO GIVE.

That barter arrangement of "play your part or else God will not bless you" is how to get cut off from Christ. Our part is to believe Jesus Christ and even this we do by Grace (John 6:44.) Right believing always produces right living. His salvation (from everything we need saving from- worry, anxiety, acts of sin, lack, fear, disease, depression, accidents, oppression, silly mistakes, stress, whatever) is not a reward for the good things we have done: Ephesians 2:

"8 For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in Him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! 9 So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving."

"Salvation" here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills. It is being saved from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin! The word used in the original Greek text of the New Testament is Swthria (pronounced soteria) and it encompasses all these meanings.

Live life loved by the Lord our Shepherd. He leads us on the path of righteousness. He keeps us from going astray. He sets us on our feet when we fall. Our own human effort at doing right in order to be righteous before God (walking in the flesh) only leads to death. His rod and His staff they comfort us.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.