Thy Rod And Thy Staff
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 9th June service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verses are:
Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The Rod And Thy Staff
The Lord’s people have long cherished Psalm 23 for its spiritual value and poetic beauty. It is a psalm of David, a man beloved of God. David’s spiritual journey led him to experience much of the breadth of human emotion and fallen man’s condition in dealing with his Maker. David walked on the mountain tops of spiritual joy yet he plunged, too, into the depths of human weakness and wickedness. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance David recorded his experiences and Psalm 23 is an example for the ages.
A much loved psalm
Though a mighty king, David drew his inspiration of God’s care and goodness from his early role as a shepherd boy and protector of his father’s sheep. In doing so his purpose was to glorify God and express confidence in Christ his Lord. The beauty of David’s language, the simplicity of his vocabulary and this psalm’s short length of merely six verses put it amongst the best loved passages in the whole Bible.
The prospect of death
Today we shall restrict ourselves to one verse only, verse 4. Our purpose is to consider the meaning of the Lord’s rod and staff that comforted David as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. As a fugitive and a warrior David faced the prospect of death many times. Goliath would have slain the boy. Saul tried to spear the man. His own son, Absalom, sought to end his father’s life and usurp the throne. The prospect of death hung over David repeatedly and he often walked beneath its shadow.
A darkening shadow
The Lord’s people now, as David then, must also walk in the valley of the shadow of death. We walk in it when confronted with the demise of our bodies. We walk in it when the Lord takes someone we love dearly and we are left alone. When we are young we barely notice the faint shadow of death. When we are in good health we do not notice its growing shade. But as our bodies age and our health diminishes the reality of mortality looms larger and the time we spend under its shadow increases. Sometimes the valley seems long and lonely.
God’s rod and staff
David speaks of two helps to comfort God’s people in the valley of the shadow of death. The first is the Lord’s rod. This may be likened to the shepherd’s crook of divine guidance and care. Sometimes it is represented as a sceptre. It points to the exercise of the Lord’s power. The second is the Lord’s staff. This may be likened to the staves with which the ark of the covenant was carried in the wilderness. It suggests comfort, support and help for a weary traveller. Figuratively, it may also signify gospel provision as in the staff of bread that feeds and nourishes the Lord’s people.
Freedom from fear of death
The purpose of these helps, David tells us, is to dispel fear, especially the fear of evil. Evil, with its effects such as guilt, condemnation and judgment, lurk in the shadow of death. The rod and staff typify the Lord Jesus Christ who has come to remove fear by destroying the works of Satan. Christ came into the world and as a man tasted death for us. He was ‘made … for the suffering of death … that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.’
The Lord is my Shepherd
The death of the Lord Jesus and His passage through death to resurrection guard and comfort the little flock of believers who delight to confess, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. If this is your profession you need have no fear of death. You have been redeemed from the horror of physical death, you are ransomed from the captivity of Satan, you are eternally saved from spiritual judgment.
Good hope and joy
The Lord our Shepherd is wise and kind. He is the Good Shepherd of John 10 who, ‘giveth his life for the sheep’. He says, ‘I … know my sheep, and am known of mine’. When the Lord is our Shepherd He directs our path and orders our time. Our times are in His hand. When the Lord is our Shepherd His rod is powerful to save and His staff supplies all our need in life and death. He brings His gospel to minister to our souls, to refresh us with mercy, to feed us with goodness and to fill our hearts with hope and joy.
The comfort of grace
God’s elect are known to Him and the blessings and comfort of sovereign grace which He gives cannot be overstated. We each travel through the valley of the shadow of death. In doing so there is much to afflict us mind and body. Yet faith in our crucified and risen Saviour leans upon the promise that as He died and rose again so shall we. Even these very same bodies that are laid in the grave and turn to dust shall rise in newness of life. In glory we shall echo Him who says, ‘I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen’.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 960
“Ask for the old paths … and walk therein.” Jer. 6. 16
J. Newton L.M.
1
By faith in Christ I walk with God,
With heaven my journey’s end in view;
Supported by his staff and rod,
My road is safe and pleasant too.
2
I travel through a desert wide,
Where many round me blindly stray;
But he vouchsafes to be my guide,
And will not let me miss my way.
3
Though snares and dangers throng my path,
And earth and hell my course withstand,
I triumph over all by faith,
Guarded by his almighty hand.
4
With him sweet converse I maintain;
Great as he is, I dare be free;
I tell him all my grief and pain,
And he reveals his love to me.
5
Some cordial from his word he brings,
Whene’er my feeble spirit faints;
At once my soul revives and sings,
And yields no more to sad complaints.
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 598
“A peculiar people.” Titus 2.14; 1 Pet. 2. 9
W. Gadsby 148th
1
Peculiar are the saints,
And God does them esteem;
Though numerous are their wants,
They all things have in him;
He is their treasure and their joy,
Nor can they ever starve or die.
2
Loved from eternity,
And chosen in the Lamb,
The eternal One-in-Three,
Jehovah, Great I AM,
Himself has bound, by holy ties,
To take them up beyond the skies.
3
Peculiar is the grace,
Which makes their bliss secure;
Its beauties none can trace,
Nor know its saving power;
None but this little favoured few
Can know what endless love can do.
4
Bought with the blood of Christ,
(Peculiar price indeed!)
Their God becomes their Priest,
And they from sin are freed;
Peculiar must the blessing be,
Which makes insolvent wretches free.
5
Their birth is from above;
Peculiar indeed;
Begotten, not of blood,
But of immortal seed;
From Christ, their Head, their life proceeds,
And to him it most surely leads.
6
They live, and live to God,
A life that’s known by few;
Their Father’s staff and rod,
Support and comfort too;
Christ is their Life, nor can they die,
For hell can ne’er their life destroy.
David knew the Lord was his Shepherd and trusted that the Good Shepherd would protect and preserve him in life and in death. He knew that with Christ by his side he had nothing to fear in the valley of the shadow of death.
9th June 2024