Effie Darlene Barba

There on the high luscious fields with springs of fresh water, the sheep spend their summers.  With their shepherd near protecting them from the predators that would cause them harm, they are content.  That is, until the nagging pests begin to attack them.  These pests are subtler at first; but, devastating.  Flies will surround their heads.  Particularly, the nasal fly will lay its larvae in the soft, moist nares of the sheep.  As the worms hatch they travel upward into the brains of the sheep causing such severe discomfort that the sheep will bang their heads against rocks.  Some are even blinded by these pests.  Much the same way, erroneous and even evil thoughts subtly enter our minds. Ideas, philosophies, and even erroneous doctrines surround us.  From the movies we watch, the TV shows we are exposed to, and even from our pulpits, our minds are bombarded with false ideologies.

When the sheep are attacked by these flies, they run about in great distress.  Shaking their heads violently, they cannot graze.  The young lambs may starve, as their mother’s milk dries up from her own distress with the situation.  Much as young Christians starve for truth, as the elders in the church run to and from false ideologies and doctrines that have entered the church much like the hatching larvae of the nasal flies.  The shepherd sees the danger of these pests creates a mixture of oil, Sulphur and tar to cover the sheep’s heads and nares.  This oil mixture prevents the pests from entering the nares of the sheep.  God “anointeth my head with oil” (Psalm 23:5) to protect my mind from erroneous and evil thoughts.

The Dangers of Erroneous and Evil Thoughts

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Shepherds take their sheep to the high plateaus for the summer where the pastures are lush.  These areas are called mesas (tables).  It is a great place of rest for the sheep, high above the valleys they trod to arrive.  Yet, before they go on this journey, the shepherd goes before to prepare the table.  Wild poisonous flowers must be carefully found and plucked out before the sheep can be taken there.  If not, the young lambs may succumb to the poison as they eagerly seek the beautiful flowers just for a taste.  Furthermore, the springs of water must be freed from the thorny hedges that have overgrown them.  Enemies are rampant in the highest regions, cougars, coyotes, venomous snakes and the like.  The Shepherd prepares the table in such a manner to keep his sheep safe, though enemies surround.

The danger grows when the sheep rejoicing in the high country forget to remain close to the shepherd.  So much the case, when we reach those wonderful plateaus.  How often do we, during the restful plateaus of our Christian walk, neglect to read our Bible or pray as we should? The danger is lurking all around us.  We, like the sheep, need to remain near our Good Shepherd. Rest assured, our Good Shepherd has gone before us and remains with us through the danger.  He has a plan to protect us even when we are surrounded by wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Satan roars forth his lies sending terror into the hearts of God’s children. Yet, God’s words, His promises and the Holy Spirit are there to remind them of His presence and their safety.

THE TABLE GOD PREPARES FOR HIS SHEEP

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In the previous post, we considered the shepherd’s rod.  As pointed out there, the rod of God is His word.  Now let us consider the Shepherd’s staff.  As David wrote in Psalm 23:3, “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” Because the shepherd was present, the psalmist had no fear when walking “through the valley of the shadow of death”.   Therefore, His rod and His staff provided the comfort to His sheep.  The word of God, His rod brings comfort to the weary soul.  Trusting His Word, we are protected from the lies that would lead us astray.  Ah, but the Shepherd’s staff brings even more comfort to the soul.  God’s comforting staff is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples, “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things. And bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). His promise was that the Spirit would abide in us, with us. “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless” (John 14:16-18).

The Shepherd’s Staff

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Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:3).  But what is the Rod of God?  Most of my life I have heard preachers speak of the rod of God being His disciplining hand.  However, to understand what David means, we must consider how the shepherd uses his rod.  Only then can we know the comfort that the rod of God brings.  For the shepherd, his tools in the days of David were the rod and the staff.

I learned a lot reading Philip Keller’s A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.  He spoke of watching the children in Africa who were learning to be a shepherd practicing daily their skills at accurately throwing their rod.  For you see, the rod had three major purposes.  First to turn a wayward wandering sheep away from danger.  Secondly, the rod is used to carefully exam the sheep.  And finally, it is used to destroy a predator that desires to harm the sheep. The rod was never used to beat the sheep into submission.  Rather, if the shepherd saw a sheep heading in a dangerous direction, he would hurl the rod through the air.  Precisely the rod would land beside the sheep and cause him to turn to the right or left away from danger.

Also, the rod was used to carefully look beneath the wool, inspecting the sheep for blemishes and imperfections.  Therein, he could ever so gently treat the blemishes and heal the wounds.

Also, with the rod, he would destroy the venomous snakes or other predators before they could harm the sheep.  The Shepherd’s rod was his instrument to protect his sheep from harm, whether that be from the sheep’s own foolish self-will or from the predators desiring their demise.

So, what is the Rod of God?

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