Psalm 23:4b (NIV) Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The best-known psalm in the Bible has to be Psalm 23. It has brought so much comfort to so many for over three thousand years. It is the psalmist David's intimate song to his God, whom he had a very close relationship with. Having read it many, many times, there is something about it that took me a while to realize and to understand and it regards what David called God's rod and staff. I always thought of God's rod and staff as the things that we can lean on it in times of trouble and when "walking through the valley of the shadow of death." But upon closer inspection, it means so much more.

A rod is used for discipline (Proverbs 13:24). A staff is used to whack wayward sheep back onto the safe path that the Shepherd has the sheep traveling on. They are corrective items. That's what makes the verse above so intriguing, because David said that God's rod and staff brought comfort to him. Who is comforted by discipline? I can say that I have learned this truth over time. There was a time in my life when I wanted to do as I please and there was a time when I didn't want to be constrained, but I learned that to do as one pleases without constraint leads to heartache and trouble and possibly, even to death. Because of our fallen, sinful condition, we are our own worst enemy. We will, by default, head in the wrong direction to do the wrong thing when we are left to our own devices. But thank God that when we receive Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are not our own anymore. We were purchased at a high price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and as I have found out, God protects His investment. Thank God that He does.

Like David, we learn that God's way is not only the best way but that it's the only way if, that is, we are to experience righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the only way to head towards life instead of the alternative, which is heading towards our demise. That's why, like David, God's rod and staff comfort me. If I am heading in the wrong direction that leads off a cliff, I want God's staff to whack me back to safety. If I have temporarily lost my good sense and am headed for trouble of my own making, I am comforted by the fact that God will use His rod to correct me before I harm myself and harm those that I love. It's a comfort to know that God protects me from myself and that He has my very best interest at heart because of His great love for me.

It is awesome that we are comforted by God's amazing love for us, but it is also good to know that His discipline and correction in our lives is absolutely necessary and incredibly valuable. Learn to be comforted by God's rod and staff. It will keep you from a lot of heartache and will cause you to live life to full measure without the mess of our wayward wanderings. God has it all covered when it comes to loving and caring for you and me, and that includes His comforting rod and staff. Be thankful that whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, because that will keep you safe on your journey through this life and into eternity with Him.

Pastor Joey Vazquez