Often a rod is used to beat, or a staff to harshly correct. A Staff brings up images of power or force. How strange for a psalm writer to say that a rod is comforting. I think that the first thing that comes to mind when I think the word comfort is fleece, or something soft, embracing or flexible. A rod is hard and unyielding, yet it brings comfort. Well, I think of how I have heard that when the nation of Israel was first given the law, a set of 613 laws, it was received with joy and gladness. This was the case because the law was seen as a gift of how to live rightly. Perhaps the rod is like this; the shepherds correction is a wonderful lesson on how to live rightly.
I think that a shepherd’s staff would also be used to defend the sheep against any predator that might be seeking a meal. No wonder the psalm writer called the staff a comfort.
Lord thank you for your rod and your staff they truly comfort me.
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