Thy Rod & Thy Staff

 A couple of years ago, I was approached by a single mother who was very strong in her faith and very active in her church. She had a five year old daughter that was not disciplined, except by the grandparents. She had been told by doctors while in her 20's that she could never have children, even though she had had a corrective surgery in her teens. In her zeal to protect the gift that God had given her, she spoiled her, and did not discipline her. There were public temper tantrums, fits of jealousy over anyone talking to the mother, and the need to be the constant center of attention.

When she came to me, who had two grown daughters and a grandson, I had known her only a few weeks. When she asked, I had already prayed over the situation~about whether to say anything or not. God had given me the words to say. The conversation went something like this:

Me: When we as Christians, get out of line or act inappropriately, what does God do with us?

Her: He chastises us.

Me: And what does the Bible say about why he does that?

Her: Because he loves us.

Me: That's right. It proves that we belong to him. And what about those that receive no chastisement?

Her: They are bastards, and not sons.

By this time, realization was beginning to set in.

Me: Using our relationship with our heavenly Father as the example, you are telling your daughter that (1) she doesn't belong to you and, (2) you don't love her.

At that moment, she could have been knocked over by a feather!

Her: I didn't realize.....

Me: You are the authority figure in your daughter's life right now. If she doesn't learn to obey you, then how is she going to obey God when he asks her to do something for him later in life.

She left with a deeper sense of her responsibility as a Christian mother. 

David, in Psalms, wrote that 'thy rod and thy staff they comfort  me.' He, having been a shepherd, understood  better than  anyone how the rod and staff  worked,  because he had used  them with  his earthly  father's sheep.  This gave him the experience needed to lead the people~the spiritual sheep~ when he became king,  setting the example for the rest of us to seek the heart of God.  The following is an excerpt about the use of a rod and staff. http://www.antipas.org/commentaries/articles/shepherd_psa23/shepherd_07.html

In the Middle East the shepherd carries only a rod and staff. These are the common and universal equipment of the primitive sheepman. Each shepherd boy, from the time he first starts to tend his father's flock, takes special pride in the selection of a rod and staff exactly suited to his own size and strength. He goes into the bush and selects a young sapling which is dug from the ground. This is carved and whittled down with great care and patience. The enlarged base of the sapling where its trunk joins the roots is shaped into a smooth, rounded head of hard wood. The sapling itself is shaped to exactly fit the owner's hand. After he completes it, the shepherd boy spends hours practicing with this club, leaning how to throw it with amazing speed and accuracy. It becomes his main weapon of defense for both himself and his sheep.

The rod, in fact, was an extension of the owner's own right arm. It stood as a symbol of his strength, his power, his authority in any serious situation. The rod was what he relied on to safeguard both himself and his flock in danger. And it was, furthermore, the instrument he used to discipline and correct any wayward sheep that insisted on wandering away.

Another interesting use of the rod in the shepherd's hand was to examine and count the sheep. In the terminology of the Old Testament this was referred to as passing "under the rod":

And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: (Ezek. 20:37). This meant not only coming under the owner's control and authority, but also to be subject to his most careful, intimate and firsthand examination. A sheep that passed "under the rod" was one which had been counted and looked over with great care to make sure all was well with it.

Because of their long wool it is not always easy to detect disease, wounds, or defects in sheep. In caring for his sheep, the good shepherd, the careful manager, will from time to time make a careful examination of each individual sheep. As each animal comes out of the corral and through the gate, it is stopped by the shepherd's outstretched rod. He opens the fleece with the rod; he runs his skillful hands over the body; he feels for any sign of trouble; he examines the sheep with care to see if all is well. This is a most searching process entailing every intimate detail. It is, too, a comfort to the sheep for only in this way can its hidden problems be laid bare before the shepherd.

The skilled shepherd uses his rod to drive off predators like coyotes, wolves, cougars or stray dogs. Often it is used to beat the brush discouraging snakes and other creatures from disturbing the flock. In extreme causes, such as David recounted to Saul, the psalmist no doubt used his rod to attack the lion and the bear that came to raid his flocks.

We turn now to discuss and consider the shepherd's staff. In a sense, the staff, more than any other item of his personal equipment, identifies the shepherd as a shepherd. No one in any other profession carries a shepherd's staff. It is uniquely an instrument used for the care and management of sheep -- and only sheep. It will not do for cattle, horses or hogs. It is designed, shaped and adapted especially to the needs of sheep.

The staff is essentially a symbol of the concern, the compassion that a shepherd has for his charges. No other single word can better describe its function on behalf of the flock than that it is for their "comfort." Whereas the rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger, the word "staff" speaks of all that is longsuffering and kind.

The shepherd's staff is normally a long, slender stick, often with a crook or hook on one end. It is selected with care by the owner; it is shaped, smoothed, and cut to best suit his own personal use.

Somehow the staff is of special comfort to the shepherd himself. In the tough tramps and during the long weary watches with his sheep, he leans on it for support and strength. It becomes to him a most precious comfort and help in his duties.

There are three areas of sheep managment in which the staff plays a most significant role. The first of these lies in drawing sheep together into an intimate relationship. The shepherd will use his staff to gently lift a newborn lamb and bring it to its mother if they become parted. He does this because he does not wish to have the ewe reject her offspring if it bears the odor of his hands upon it.

The staff is used by the shepherd to reach out and catch individual sheep, young or old, and draw them close to himself for intimate examination. The staff is very useful this way for the shy and timid sheep normally tend to keep at a distance from the shepherd.

The staff is also used for guiding sheep. Again and again I have seen a shepherd use his staff to guide his sheep gently into a new path or through some gate or along dangerous, difficult routes. He does not use it actually to beat the beast. Rather, the tip of the long slender stick is laid gently against the animal's side and the pressure applied guides the sheep in the way the owner wants it to go. Thus the sheep is reassured of its proper path.