^ M. G. Pearse, In the Banqueting House, 145.
46o THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
lost in the din, but reaches His ear, when I draw close to Him in the darkness, and breathe out my confidence, " Thou art with me." ^
III.
COMFOET. "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."
1. The shepherd is as powerful as he is tender ; for he carries in his hand a great oak club to beat ojff the wild beasts. Even to-day " many adventures with wild beasts occur, not unlike that recounted by David (1 Sam. xvii. 34-36) ; for, though there are now no lions here, there are w^olves in abundance ; and leopards and panthers, exceeding fierce, prowl about these wild wadies. They not unfrequently attack the flock in the very presence of the shepherd, and he must be ready to do battle at a moment's warning " (Thomson, The Land and the Booh). The staff is different from the rod: on it the shepherd leans; with it in various ways he helps his sheep. So that rod and staff together symbolize the power and the affection of the Divine Shepherd. Well might the Psalmist point to them with pride and gladness, and say, " They are my consolation."
There are several places in which this word " rod " occurs that show us its meaning. The first is in Lev. xxvii. 32. The refer- ence is to the numbering of the sheep, driving them into a corner, so that they can pass through a gap only one at a time, and the rod is dipped over them as they are counted. So the rod is the Si/mhol of possession. Then, again, although the word is not used,' there is the same thought in Jer. xxxiii. 10. It is the beautiful picture of Israel's restoration. "Again shall there be heard in this place, which ye say is desolate . . . the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and the voice of them that say. Praise the Lord of Hosts : for the Lord is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever : ... in this place, which is desolate . . . shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down . . . the flocks shall pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord." It is the picture of fullest and most assured possession.
^ J. Culross, God's Shepherd Care, 113.
PSALM xxiii. 4 461
2. The rod and the staff are not by any means those of the pilgrim, which would be a misleading sudden transition to a different figure, but those of Jehovah the Shepherd as the means of guidance and defence. The rod and staff in God's hand comfort him, i.e. impart to him the feeling of security, and therefore make him of good cheer. Even when he walks through a narrow defile, dark and gloomy as the grave, where surprise and disasters of every kind threaten him, he fears no misfortune.
^ The staff of the mountaineer is often inscribed with the names of his triumphs. And on this staff what triumphs are written 1 Hold it and read what is written thereon : " Able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him," " Able to keep us from falling." " Able to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Here is no room for fear. Here faith must sing her cheeriest, sweetest song : " Thy rod and thy stafl", they comfort me." ^
3. The rod and staff are sometimes regarded as two names for one object, used for different purposes. The more natural meaning of the double phrase is, however, the more correct. The shepherd carries both a shehet, a kind of club or mace slung by the side and used as an offensive weapon when needed, and a mish'eneth, a long straight pole carried in the hand and used for climbing, for support, and for helping the sheep in various ways.
^ The shepherd's staff is not a crook, as painted by foreign artists. The shepherds of Palestine never used a crook, nor do so to-day. It is a camel-herder that carries a light cane with a crook at one end, with which he catches the camel by hooking its neck with the crook, and guides it by taps of the crook instead of a halter when riding it.^
^ Going before the flock, the shepherd beats the grass and bushes with his staff to drive out the serpents lurking in the paths. These reptiles usually glide quickly away and escape, but occasionally one bolder than the rest will show fight. Then quick as a flash the good shepherd strikes the serpent with his heavy- headed club, taking care to crush its head, because a snake is not fatally wounded whose head is not crushed, the vital organs being situated, as with fishes, close to the head. Otherwise, even
^ M. G. Pearse, In the Banqueting Rouse, 152.
* A. F. Mamreov, A Day ivith the Good Shej)herd, 27.
462 THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
if cut in half, it is still capable of inflicting mortal injury by its sting.^
4. "They comfort me." What does "comfort" mean, as used in the Bible ? It means with strength. Comfortare is to give strength, to comfort by increasing power ; not to smooth and quiet and hush down, and say, " No, be quiet, be calm." That is not the Bible comfort ; comfort in the Bible is to gird with strength, to strengthen, to stimulate. He is comforted, He is made strong enough to resume the war. " They comfort me " ; they make me so strong that I take up Death, and in the great wrestle I fling him to the dust- Death ! I know not what room you are abiding in, But I will go my way, Kejoicing day by day. Nor will I flee or stay For fear I tread the path you may be hiding in.