His Rod and Staff

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”

 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, and we continue with our series through the 23^rd psalm. If you were here last week, you will remember we spent our time with verse four: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me.”

 

You may also remember that the Hebrew words translated as the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ can also be correctly translated, ‘the valley of deep darkness.’ Regardless of its translation, whether shadow of death or deep darkness, it’s a lonely place to be. A harsh place. A cold place. Our valleys are often shrouded by chronic pain or broken relationships, or financial pressures, or the ongoing stressors of living in a world that seems to be falling apart. And if you were here last week, you will remember David reminds us we have no need to fear those valleys because our Good Shepherd is with us. Always. On mountain tops AND in the valleys.

 

So, today we turn our attention to the last part of verse 4: “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Here is the entire verse for context: 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.”

 

And how does God's rod and staff provide us comfort, especially in the valleys of deep darkness? There are two primary interpretations of this ‘Rod and Staff’ reference. The first understands them as God's instruments of disciplining His children. The second understands them as God's instruments of protecting His children. Both interpretations have merit, but today I’ll focus on the rod and staff as the Good Shepherd’s means of protecting His sheep.

 

John Gill, 18^th century pastor and theologian, put it this way: “The shepherd with his rod, staff, or crook, directs the sheep where to go, pushes forward those that are behind, and fetches back those that go astray; as well as drives away dogs, wolves, bears, etc. that would make a prey of the flock.

 

And of such use is the word of God, attended with the power of Christ and his Spirit; it points out the path of faith, truth, and holiness . . . and of preserving the flock from the ravenous wolves of false teachers: [Such] are the comfort and safety of his people, in the worst of times and cases.”

 

I know I’ve said what I am about to say many times over the years. I repeat myself again today without apology because of my unshakeable conviction that familiarity with God's word – His rod and His staff – is absolutely essential for our protection and our comfort, whether spiritual or physical. Or both.

 

For example, the entire 119 psalm – all 176 verses – extols the safety and the comfort of knowing God's word and allowing it to work its work in our lives and circumstances. For good reason Paul wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica: “[We] constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

 

Comfort and protection. When St Paul wrote of the Christian’s spiritual armor, i.e. the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the rest of the armor – he added: “And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17).

 

Haven’t YOU needed God's comfort in your valleys? And don’t you think you will NEED His comfort in whatever valleys you still have before you, regardless of the darkness?

 

Please hear this. You will never find lasting comfort in any of the hundreds of self-help books that line shelves in bookstores. You won’t find it there because long before you and I were born, long before Genesis chapter one, God designed lasting comfort to be found only in His voice found in printed form in what we call the Bible. Remember: Jesus said the sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him.

So, are you consistently reading it? More than that, are you regularly reflecting on it? Are you listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you through His word which alone is a lamp to our feet and a light in our valley of deep darkness.

 

Comfort and protection. There have been times in my life when I have DESPERATELY God's comfort. There have been times – and I think of one in particular, when I had a nearly overwhelming sense of guilt because of a particular personal failure I’d experienced in my walk with Christ. I suspect some of you have also experienced a feeling of guilt over your own personal failure in your walk with Christ.

 

And so, it is to that point – the feeling of guilt – that I now turn our attention. We must not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes to discourage us, dishearten us, to trick us into disbelieving God's word –especially when His rod and staff assure us of God's complete forgiveness of our sins and failures.

 

The devil knows if he can persuade the Christian to disbelieve God's Word about His full forgiveness of our confessed sins, then eventually our feeling of guilt will overwhelm us, rob us of our Christian joy, and make us ineffective in our work for the Kingdom. In some cases, an overwhelming sense of guilt can cause some to abandon Christ because they wrongly think God is always angry with them, or they give up their walk because they think they’ll never be able to live up to God's expectations of them. 

 

There’s not a mature Christian alive – the important word there is, ‘mature’ Christian – who has not, at one time or another, felt a sense of guilt over their sins. Perhaps even now, some in this sanctuary are struggling with guilt over past confessed sins – sins which God has completely erased.

 

Please hear this: It is only our confidence in what God's word tells us about forgiveness that a conscience still troubled by guilt can find peace. God's ‘Rod and Staff’ alone can restore the penitent Christian’s assurance regarding God's utter forgiveness that flows from Calvary’s cross. True and eternal forgiveness and the cleansing of a guilty conscience. Such is available to all who confess to God their sins.

 

King David is a good example of that critical point. If ANYONE had a reason to feel guilt about his sins, it was David. But listen to what he wrote after his confession of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah:

 

“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity . . . When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer . . . I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1-6)

 

Riddled with guilt, David felt God's hand heavy upon him day after day. Night after night. And who among mature Christians has not been in the same place as guilt because of unconfessed sin dug its talons into our spirits. But now look at verse six of this 32^nd psalm:

 

When David confessed his sins to God, God FORGAVE him. Completely. Thoroughly. And David’s sense of guilt was gone. THAT’S why he wrote: “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.”  In other words, David KNEW that God had wiped his account clean. His sin no longer appeared in God’s ledger.

 

The apostle Paul is another example of a sinner redeemed by the blood of Jesus – the blood that wiped his guilt from his conscience. You who know your Bible know the kind of murderous and blasphemous man Paul was before he met Jesus on that road to Damascus.

 

And you also know it was this same Paul who wrote to the Christians at Rome: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) The Greek word translated as ‘justified’ means God declares the penitent to be ‘righteous.’  And that’s also why Paul could write to the Christians at Ephesus: “In Him [Christ Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:20) 

 

Throughout the New Testament, the word translated as ‘forgiveness’ means that God treats the repented sin as if it had never been committed.

 

Justified. Forgiven. Cleansed. Declared righteous. As if the sin had never been committed. Oh! Do you see how God's word is a rod that beats back the lies of Satan and how His staff pulls us from the traps the devil lays along our paths?

 

Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Judas had repented to the One whom he betrayed? If you have even an iota of doubt as to what Jesus would have done for Judas, then that might explain why you still have doubts about Christ’s forgiveness after you repented to Him of your sins.

 

OF COURSE, Jesus would have forgiven Judas. There should be no doubt whatsoever about that. So, listen, please. This is important: Jesus forgave Peter for denying three times that he knew Him. And the Lord forgave Saul (later known as the apostle Paul) who at one time ravaged the fledgling Church, dragging men and women off to prison and who tried to force them to blaspheme Christ (see Acts 26:11). And Christ’s mercy has continued through the era of Church history, to this present moment.

 

OF COURSE Jesus would have forgiven Judas if he’d repented to Him. And of course, Jesus will forgive ME and YOU and anyone else who repents to Him. And THAT is why the Shepherd’s rod and staff – His infallible and inerrant word – COMFORT us who believe His promises.

 

Murderer? Denier of God? Adulterer? Blasphemer? Fornicator? Read what God promised the penitent sinners in Corinth: “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

 

No sin is so deep that Christ’s mercy and forgiveness is not infinitely deeper. But Satan wants us to believe that Christ’s atoning blood is insufficient to cleanse our sins – especially our darkest sins. But remember what Jesus said of Satan: “Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44b).

 

Whatever is the sin that troubles you, whatever is that sin which you believe is beyond Christ’s forgiveness and mercy – listen once more to God’s promise: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

 

I don’t mind telling you that I know from personal experience what I’m talking about. Every so often I get to thinking I’m NEVER going to get it right. I’m never going to love the Lord as I want to love Him and serve Him as I want to serve Him.

 

And then the Holy Spirit reminds me of something He showed me several years ago in the Scriptures, and immediately He comforts me and assures me that He not only knows my failures, AND that His stubborn love endures through my failures. Oh, hallelujah.

 

The New Testament writers used two words for “love” – phileo and agape. Phileo carries the idea of tender affection. Agape is often used to describe God's unconditional, merciful, and enduring love.

 

When the Lord Jesus told Peter that before a rooster crowed, Peter would deny three times that he knew Him. Peter vowed he’d never deny his Lord. But he did, didn’t he?

 

I want us to now focus on this scene in our imagination. After Peter’s third denial, Luke tells us: “The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:61-62)

Hold that thought as we now look at the 21^st chapter of John’s gospel. The apostle records this conversation between Jesus and Peter: "Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) me more than these?” He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) you.” He said to him, "Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) me?” He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love (phileo) me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love (phileo) me?” and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (phileo) you.” (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.”

A modern version of the conversation might sound something like this:

“Peter, do you love me with all your heart?” Peter answered, “Lord, I have great affection for you.” Jesus said, “Peter, feed My lambs.”

The Lord said again, “Peter, do you really, really love me?” Peter replied, “Lord, I think you are wonderful.” Jesus answered, “Peter, tend My sheep.”

Again, Jesus asked, “Peter, do you have great affection for me?” Peter answered simply, “Lord, you know I do.” And Jesus said once again, “Feed My sheep.”

 

Two things caught my attention in this exchange between the Lord and Peter, as I hope they also catch YOUR attention. First, Peter obviously felt miserable about his repeated denial of his best friend and Lord. But I then noticed how the Savior tried to help Peter move beyond his self-recrimination and guilt. When Peter wouldn't say, when he couldn’t say with honesty that he passionately, fully, completely loved Jesus, the Lord came down to his level: “Okay, my friend. Then, do you have affection for me?”

And second – and equally important – after each agape/phileo exchange, the Lord’s charge to Peter was the same: “Take care of My sheep.” In other words, “Peter, I know you feel guilty, but your repentance has fully restored our relationship. Your sorrow and guilt are totally unnecessary. Don’t let them keep you from your task to tend My flock."

How like the merciful Christ to call each of us out of our sorrow and self-recrimination AND our inability to fully love Him as we want to love Him. Jesus knows our hearts. He knows our weaknesses of the flesh. But base on this important text, the Lord is content even for our ‘phileo’ affection. He knows that if we give Him THAT, a maturing agape love will always follow. 

 

Christian, don’t be discouraged by your failures to live up to what you want to do for Christ. The Shepherd knows very well the sheep’s weaknesses. So, believe God's word. Let His rod and staff comfort you and protect you from Satan’s lies. God loves you. He completely forgives the penitent.

 

Be at peace.