Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The Psalmist, David, here talks about the rod and the staff of the Lord, and he talks about that bringing comfort to him and not only comfort, but keeping him from fear.
A shepherd would use a rod and a staff to both correct and guide his sheep. It’s interesting because correction doesn’t always feel comfortable. Sometimes we can be stubborn and we want to go our own way, but the Lord is faithful to guide us. He’s faithful to correct us into safety and into peace if we’ll let Him.
So Lord, we just invite you into our steps. Lord God, we invite you into all that we’re doing. We welcome your correction, Lord. We welcome your guidance to course correct. We just say thank you for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.