Recently a devotional (I am not sure which one or it may even have been a sermon) I read a while back has been crossing my mind. I just finished reading through Proverbs, a book so full to the brim with wisdom, and noticed the similar references to the "rod" of discipline. Like Proverbs 10:13, 13:24, 14:3, 22:8, 22:15, 23:13, etc... are all about disciplining children or fools for the decisions they make without Godly wisdom.
Well, a devotion of some sort took that on a journey back to Psalm 23, and I do not know if others discovered this already before, but it was all new to me. When in verse 4 of Psalm 23 the psalmist says, "thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me," I always thought he was referring to something he carried in his hands, like earthly weapons of a sort. I have to admit, in my lack of knowledge, I did not quite understand it, but I accepted it for that.
Now, I have a totally transformed view of that verse. The rod the psalmist is speaking of is God's own disciplining hand. It is not that I am protected physically from physical harm with earthly weapons, but made fully prepared to fight spiritual evil and dark forces. They are ever against me, and the comfort the psalmist talks about makes so much more sense now.
Although it does not seem like it at the time of discipline, God is refining us through trials and hardships. When I read Proverbs, I find myself in fear of the rod. But when I read Psalm 23, I find myself comforted by it - and that is how it should always be.
Discipline me Lord! Never let me turn away from you!! How easily my heart will falter...
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