The Rod and Staff

Sheep have a natural tendency to go astray and get themselves into trouble. When one sheep goes astray, the others will follow. We have the same tendency. The prophet Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

David, a shepherd, knew some things about straying sheep. He wrote, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The rod and the staff were essential tools of the shepherd. He would use a staff to pull in a wayward sheep. And he would use the rod to fight off intruders or threats to his sheep. But some sheep are really stubborn, so at times the shepherd used the rod on his sheep too, the sheep that he loved so much. He would chose to do that rather than see them dead one day. So the shepherd would pull out the rod and apply it.

Sometimes God uses the staff in our lives. When we are going astray, doing something we shouldn’t do, the Holy Spirit convicts us. It’s wrong and we know it.

But if we keep doing it, then God will pull out the rod. You know what I’m talking about. Maybe you had been getting away with something, but then one day, the full ramifications or repercussions of your sin caught up with you in full force. That is the rod. It is not meant to destroy you, but to warn you of the dangers of what you are doing.

The psalmist said, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word” (Psalm119:67). God will chastise you if necessary, but He does so because He loves you.