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. (Psalm 23:4 KJV)

As we wrap up this single line of scripture we can take the entirety of God’s message in four words: Thou art with me.

If you get nothing else out of this verse, get that!

God can seem distant at times, but that is more us and less Him. We distance from God and break our intimacy with Him by our actions. God does not leave us nor forsake us. He is always present, but we are not. He is always there to comfort us. But let’s not forget the rod and the staff and how they play into that comfort.

The rod is often seen in scripture as a form of correction, the staff with support and guidance. If we consider this verse in that way, the staff seems to clearly fit but why the rod? Because God knows that we often crate our own valleys. We often do things that are not taking the best path, so we need the rod for correction and the staff for guidance. But why is the rod then a comfort?

God’s rod and staff display the love of a father. A loving father corrects his child, even if that correction means punishment. We should fear a good father, but not be afraid of him. And once corrected we tend to need the staff to lean upon and to guide us. Once again, this shows us we have a loving Father.

God is with us always, he desires to walk with us through all of life, good and bad. He loves us so He will correct and guide. So today, we do not have to fear, we have only to trust, accept the rod and the staff and be comforted.