Psalm 23

Psalm 23:4

"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"

This is a good example of a verse that most Christians, and many non-Christians are very familiar with. Kind of like John 3:16. If someone said to you, "Yea, though I walk..." You could probably finish the rest of that sentence automatically.

I get several email devotionals, and one of them spent a whole week focusing on the 23 Psalm. So naturally, I spent some time thinking about the meaning of the words in Psalm 23. Specifically, I was intrigued by the idea of a "rod" and a "staff" bringing comfort. What does that really mean?

The analogy of a staff bringing comfort made immediate sense, I can easily picture the staff as a tool that guides sheep, directing them to safety, away from danger, and thus "comforting" them. But the rod struck me as an odd tool for bringing comfort. I have always associated the rod with discipline and rebuke, not with comfort. So I decided to look up the original Hebrew and see if I could shed some light on this all too familiar verse.

Here is what I discovered.

The Hebrew word for rod used here is shebet. It can mean several things including a stick, for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc... It can also figuratively mean a clan. This word shebet is used in Proverbs 13:24:

"Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him."

I found that very interesting. Is it the discipline of the LORD that David finds comforting? That puts a different twist on things, doesn't it?

Moving on to the word "staff", I found the original Hebrew word mishenah. It means support, or sustenance. That makes sense. The support of the LORD is comforting to David.

But what does the word "comfort" really mean? This, to me, was the most interesting find of all. It left me with a few more questions than answers.

Before I say any more, let me give you this disclaimer. I don't know anything about Bible translation. I don't know how the people who translated Psalms from Hebrew to English chose which meaning to assign to each word. But now that I have started looking into the original language, I find the topic fascinating. I'll have to find someone who knows something about it and pick his or her brain.

OK, that being said, let me continue. The Hebrew word for comfort is nacham. Some of its meanings include to sigh, breathe strongly, by implication to be sorry, to pity, to console, avenge, comfort, repent. There is our word "comfort," way down there on the list of potential meanings.

But I found a lot of verses in the Old Testament that used the word nacham in a totally different way. Here is one of them:

Genesis 6:6

"And the LORD was sorry that he had made man of the earth, and it grieved him to his heart."

There the word nacham is used in one of it's more common translations "to be sorry" or "repent."

Wow, doesn't that idea mix things up for Psalm 23? Read the verse this way and see what you think:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; Your discipline and your support, they cause me to repent.

I personally think that repenting and comfort work very well together. After all, God promises to forgive us when we repent and confess. That comforts me a great deal. Because no matter what I do, I know there will never be a time in this life when I will be without sin. It's just part of living in this present flesh.

And I know from experience that sometimes the most effective way to bring repentance is with a little application of discipline. In fact, I may go so far as to say that sometimes that is the only way to bring repentance. Read the book of Judges sometime. It is pitifully clear that the rod of discipline was the only way God could keep the wayward Israelites from committing all sorts of atrocities.

But, because God is merciful and gracious, He promises to always include the staff of His comfort in the mix. The perfect combination: discipline and support. Sounds a lot like a loving Father to me.

I don't think I will ever read the 23 Psalm quite the same way again.