"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" (Psalm 23:4).
Most of us like to have structure in our lives, you know, so
that we know we have a place, and are close to people we can rely on. We long
to be blessed and secure in loving relationships and a peaceful, prosperous
nation, but these things are out of reach for many. Such structures help us to
cope and rub along together and be a
people, a society (Isaiah 61:9).
For me it is a great comfort to know that our God designed us, and the whole Creation, with this desire for structure in our heart; really, it parallels the laws of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and logic which apply always everywhere in the Universe, (except when God over-arches and intervenes supernaturally with a miracle).
Our Bible tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), and from that same Bible we see a vast narrative in time and space. The Bible begins with a miraculous and very ordered building from nothing until that glorious (perfect?) world before the Fall, with the second family of Adam and Eve as its carers and stewards. They were intimate companions of the God who gave them everything they needed, even meaningful work, and He walked and talked with them in the garden at the end of each day (Genesis 3:8). Our families are descendents of this couple. The first and eternal family is God, three persons in one Deity, Father, the Son Jesus and Holy Spirit who is the inner presence of God in us, the believers.
I grew up in New Zealand in the post WWII years when the Western democracies were known as Christian countries. We had Bible readings, hymns and prayer as part of assembly at school, and I went to church as part of Sea Scouts and, later, Bible class. Our people and our government followed the ethics and morality as outlined in God's Ten Commandments and everyone understood that this gave us a fair, safe and generous nation.
David's 23rd psalm was well known to me, and to just about everybody, as was the true meaning of Christmas and Easter.
Some church words and phrases embedded themselves in my consciousness, I still remember "thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me" (from Psalm 23:4 in the KJV) and "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds" (from Philippians 4:7). I now believe that these verses told me that the God I did not know was (is) truly there, and is very big, and there are mysteries I may take a lifetime to understand.
Looking back, I see that God was assuring me that, more than simply being "there", He was aware of everything going on in the whole Universe, including everything to do with me. But the people around me did not seem to be happier or more welcoming because of God; I now think perhaps they did not know God or see His glory, they may have simply known about God with no deep and abiding relationship with Him.
For me it is a great comfort to know that our God designed us, and the whole Creation, with this desire for structure in our heart; really, it parallels the laws of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and logic which apply always everywhere in the Universe, (except when God over-arches and intervenes supernaturally with a miracle).
Our Bible tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), and from that same Bible we see a vast narrative in time and space. The Bible begins with a miraculous and very ordered building from nothing until that glorious (perfect?) world before the Fall, with the second family of Adam and Eve as its carers and stewards. They were intimate companions of the God who gave them everything they needed, even meaningful work, and He walked and talked with them in the garden at the end of each day (Genesis 3:8). Our families are descendents of this couple. The first and eternal family is God, three persons in one Deity, Father, the Son Jesus and Holy Spirit who is the inner presence of God in us, the believers.
I grew up in New Zealand in the post WWII years when the Western democracies were known as Christian countries. We had Bible readings, hymns and prayer as part of assembly at school, and I went to church as part of Sea Scouts and, later, Bible class. Our people and our government followed the ethics and morality as outlined in God's Ten Commandments and everyone understood that this gave us a fair, safe and generous nation.
David's 23rd psalm was well known to me, and to just about everybody, as was the true meaning of Christmas and Easter.
Some church words and phrases embedded themselves in my consciousness, I still remember "thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me" (from Psalm 23:4 in the KJV) and "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds" (from Philippians 4:7). I now believe that these verses told me that the God I did not know was (is) truly there, and is very big, and there are mysteries I may take a lifetime to understand.
Looking back, I see that God was assuring me that, more than simply being "there", He was aware of everything going on in the whole Universe, including everything to do with me. But the people around me did not seem to be happier or more welcoming because of God; I now think perhaps they did not know God or see His glory, they may have simply known about God with no deep and abiding relationship with Him.
Since Jesus drew me to
Himself I have read many excited, articulate, "born again" Christian authors who were writing during
those years. I believe that these writers saw people around them who were very
like me; lost in what seemed to be a flourishing but materialistic world.
Whilst a new Christian, I spent time reading the Psalms; all these years later I still love them deeply, they are the Bible book where God's people talk, (and cry out), to Him. Psalm 23 soon came to my attention, I had heard it throughout my life - probably I had connected it to the "God" I knew was "there" but who I did not know and could not define.
Here were the "out of reach" words, "your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (v4). I knew this as deep but real, and, yes, "transcending my understanding".
My Dad had come home from WWII, he was whole physically, but we realised later, very damaged on his inside. He was a navigator on bomber airplanes, guiding his pilot to the bombing target amidst the anti-aircraft gun fire and the enemy fighter planes. Again and again he had been "through the valley of the shadow of death" (v4). Were these Bible words telling me that this God-over-everything could make sense of all of life (Acts 9:18) and give me a correct and complete perspective, or Biblical worldview? (So that I would know and be strengthened by God's moral absolutes, the certainty of miracles past, present and future, the dignity and value of every person, and the certainty of redemption, of being forgiven and set free?)
Jesus' words: "..
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except
through me" (John 14:6).
Again Jesus' words: ".. blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it" (Luke 11:28).
Later, when I read the Bible passages where Jesus likens Himself to a shepherd, I connected these thoughts and knew comfort. I had worked as a shepherd during a springtime school holiday, the idea that God was also my shepherd resonated with me. This is what this PsalmsOfJohn piece is about: Jesus shepherd-like care for us, His strength always there to help and protect.
Jesus loved to teach about the shepherd caring for His sheep, He clearly saw Himself as the shepherd of His Father's flock. As a boy Jesus would have learned about His famous ancestor David, who, being the youngest of Jethro's sons, was the shepherd of their sheep. David took his work seriously and found good pasture, water and shelter for his charges, and when trouble came: "I slew the lion and the bear" (1 Samuel 17:35-36). As he tells King Saul about this, David clearly thinks he was simply doing his job, and, because he was one of God's own, he needed nothing more than God's covering.
My shepherd's crook was just like David's "staff" and was a vital part of my equipment (and often difficult to hold onto as I rode my horse around the flocks of expectant mother sheep with all my "midwife" equipment). The crook was shaped like an "f" (without the horizontal) and about 1½ metres (5 feet) long. It was beautifully made from a single slim tree branch and carefully shaped to give the "crook". I needed my crook for the extra reach it gave me to catch a ewe sheep who was having trouble giving birth to her lamb and needed help.
My crook and David's "staff" were an aid to help us guide and nurture the sheep in our care. In Christian terms I see this being God's Word, the Bible, the living Word of God to us, together with God's New Covenant, His eternal promise to humankind that He will forgive our sins and welcome us into His family, in full communion, when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ, as Saviour, with all our heart.
Whilst a new Christian, I spent time reading the Psalms; all these years later I still love them deeply, they are the Bible book where God's people talk, (and cry out), to Him. Psalm 23 soon came to my attention, I had heard it throughout my life - probably I had connected it to the "God" I knew was "there" but who I did not know and could not define.
Here were the "out of reach" words, "your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (v4). I knew this as deep but real, and, yes, "transcending my understanding".
My Dad had come home from WWII, he was whole physically, but we realised later, very damaged on his inside. He was a navigator on bomber airplanes, guiding his pilot to the bombing target amidst the anti-aircraft gun fire and the enemy fighter planes. Again and again he had been "through the valley of the shadow of death" (v4). Were these Bible words telling me that this God-over-everything could make sense of all of life (Acts 9:18) and give me a correct and complete perspective, or Biblical worldview? (So that I would know and be strengthened by God's moral absolutes, the certainty of miracles past, present and future, the dignity and value of every person, and the certainty of redemption, of being forgiven and set free?)
Again Jesus' words: ".. blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it" (Luke 11:28).
Later, when I read the Bible passages where Jesus likens Himself to a shepherd, I connected these thoughts and knew comfort. I had worked as a shepherd during a springtime school holiday, the idea that God was also my shepherd resonated with me. This is what this PsalmsOfJohn piece is about: Jesus shepherd-like care for us, His strength always there to help and protect.
Jesus loved to teach about the shepherd caring for His sheep, He clearly saw Himself as the shepherd of His Father's flock. As a boy Jesus would have learned about His famous ancestor David, who, being the youngest of Jethro's sons, was the shepherd of their sheep. David took his work seriously and found good pasture, water and shelter for his charges, and when trouble came: "I slew the lion and the bear" (1 Samuel 17:35-36). As he tells King Saul about this, David clearly thinks he was simply doing his job, and, because he was one of God's own, he needed nothing more than God's covering.
My shepherd's crook was just like David's "staff" and was a vital part of my equipment (and often difficult to hold onto as I rode my horse around the flocks of expectant mother sheep with all my "midwife" equipment). The crook was shaped like an "f" (without the horizontal) and about 1½ metres (5 feet) long. It was beautifully made from a single slim tree branch and carefully shaped to give the "crook". I needed my crook for the extra reach it gave me to catch a ewe sheep who was having trouble giving birth to her lamb and needed help.
My crook and David's "staff" were an aid to help us guide and nurture the sheep in our care. In Christian terms I see this being God's Word, the Bible, the living Word of God to us, together with God's New Covenant, His eternal promise to humankind that He will forgive our sins and welcome us into His family, in full communion, when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ, as Saviour, with all our heart.
(I also
believe that the New Testament shows that this kind of belief will inspire us
to join with the living Jesus in His work in the World today, with prayer,
discipling and mentoring, helps of all kinds, evangelism and mission, teaching,
pastoring and leadership, and music for "the
God who sings over His people" (Zephaniah 3:17). All these form our
worship (John 4:24)).
David's "rod" was a sturdy wooden stick used as a weapon to fight off wild animals, a weapon of protection (much like a policeman's billy club). As a Christian I see Jesus providing discipline, authority, protection from danger. Part of this is our conscience through which Holy Spirit tells us that we are off God's true path for us (1 Timothy 1:5), and also His prophetic word by which He shows us His will, and His discipline when needed (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 1:7; Revelation 3:19).
David's "rod" was a sturdy wooden stick used as a weapon to fight off wild animals, a weapon of protection (much like a policeman's billy club). As a Christian I see Jesus providing discipline, authority, protection from danger. Part of this is our conscience through which Holy Spirit tells us that we are off God's true path for us (1 Timothy 1:5), and also His prophetic word by which He shows us His will, and His discipline when needed (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 1:7; Revelation 3:19).
The Weather
Our weather is one way everyone sees God's power and
foresight in our lives; we experience the effects of weather every day.
Scientists marvel at the symbiosis and synchronicity of everything.
Symbiosis: a close and long-term biological interaction between two biological organisms of different species, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic (Wikipedia).
Synchronicity: coincidental occurrence of events that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality (Wikipedia).
Our weather is a part of "everything" and is one vast ongoing system involving the oceans and land masses, the mountains and the deep ocean trenches, the polar ice caps and the equatorial tropics.
The Sun, the star at the centre of our Solar System, pours out light and heat and radioactivity and magnetic fields. It is an essential and intrinsic part of all life here. The Sun gives us day and night, it is the driving force for our weather, and it keeps our planet safe and warm, but not too hot or too cold.
God manages all our weather with the same love and care and the same eternal perspective as He cares for all of humankind. We are assured that we will never again see an overwhelming flood such as Noah and his family knew (Genesis 9:8-17).
At first glance our world may look chaotic. There are times and places where we are overwhelmed. But even lightening, bush fires, hurricanes and the Antarctic cold have purpose in the global weather processes. This is a high degree of order which our lovely God provides for us, even in the still-fallen state of the world in which we live. Every day I rejoice and am amazed at God's Creation, that I am a part of it and in so many relationships within it. I know that we all are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).
Now
At men's group last week one of the guys was happy to tell us how his sin life has shrunk since Jesus drew him to Himself. We all agreed that this is what Jesus does; He doesn't just forgive our sins (when we repent) but in some mysterious way He de-motivates us from sinful habits and new temptations. One of us read Galatians 5:19-21:
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21)
Seeing and acknowledging our sin and then repenting are at the heart of our Christian life, a true part of God’s "rod" and "staff". They bring belief and faith, we know we are loved and have been set free (Galatians 5:1). We remember that our "flesh" nature still influences us but Jesus is stronger.
What a relief to be (almost totally) free from what many think of as the "normal life" that we had been part of. As Jesus grows us we flourish: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
Paul says that we crucify the sin in our self (Galatians 5:24). I am not sure that is totally true for me. Sure, I have learned to say "no" often, but it is Jesus in me who has made the big difference in living cleaner: "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
I see that Jesus' "rod" and "staff" have been at work in my life; in His care I am safe, just like David's sheep when he "slew the lion and the bear". Jesus holds our lives together; "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
This is not surprising really; it is part of the ordered way Jesus does everything (Colossians 1:16). His "rod" and "staff" guide us from our heart outwards. He promised through the prophet Ezekiel that He would do this: "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19).
Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts help in our life here. They are given so that our spirit is equipped and strengthened. They add to us inside, and enable us to be more effective on the outside (Romans 1:11; 1 Corinthians 12).
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a New Covenant, not of the letter [of the law] but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ESV).
Today Jesus still keeps and guides us, He is every bit the shepherd He was for Israel and the early Church. He does not use a wooden "rod" or "staff", but speaks in words or by His Holy Spirit through His relationship with each one of us:
• "Jesus said: 'Follow me'" (Matthew 4:19).
• "Let me hear what God the Lord will speak .." (Psalm 85:8).
• "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28, Jesus' words).
• "Paul's spirit was provoked within him" (Acts 17:16).
• "So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself)" (Romans 10:17 Amplified).
Jesus does go before us, He is at our shoulder and He has our back; indeed, Jesus, our shepherd with His "rod" and His "staff", is with us always (Psalm 23:4; Matthew 28:20). Always. So encouraging.
Thank you Jesus.
Holy Spirit, you're the illumination of my soul, of my soul
Searching all my inward parts, and defining me as whole
You quicken God's word like a lamp unto my feet
Guiding my every care to the Mercy Seat
You quicken God's word like a lamp unto my feet
Guiding my every step to the Mercy Seat
Guiding my every care to the Mercy Seat Holy Spirit, you're the illumination of my soul.
Thank you Jesus. Amen
Favourite Bible Verses
"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring'" (Acts 17:26-28).
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit .. he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26).
"The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him" ( Ephesians 1:17).
"But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him" (1 John 2:27).
"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3:14).
Praise Jesus. Amen
Permalink: https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2024/07/thy-rod-and-thy-staff.html
