Your
Rod And Your Staff
The
LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down
in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he
restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you
are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my
cup overflows.
Surely goodness and
love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of
the LORD forever.
Psalm
1:1-6
We all know this as
the Lord’s Prayer. The shadows came from Wadi Kelt. The landscape is bleak, barren and perilously steep.
It is a good place for thieves, but not for anyone else.
David refused to give
in to fear. Evil was an ever present reality. He was not expressing hope that
God would abolish evil so that he could pass safely; he was saying that the
presence of God gave him the confidence to pass through difficult places
without fear of being deserted by Him. David had hope, as all of us do.
Many claim to have
hope, but only those whose hope is Christ can claim it with certainty. Hope
comes not from strength, intelligence, or favorable circumstances, but from the
Lord. As Maker of heaven and earth, He alone has the right to promise hope and
the power to keep the promise.
Hope for the
Christian is a certainty, because its basis is Christ.
Find
comfort in knowing that the rod and staff of our Lord protects us all the time.
Our Daily Bread –