They Lead Me to Repent and Feel Thankful

 

When David wrote the 23rd Psalm, he could not have been a young shepherd. He had to have been up in years, possibly at the time he was running from a son who was trying to kill him. (David, and some of those loyal to him, ran from a son of David, rather than kill the son.)

David's psalm is rich with an older man's wisdom in God, especially when he is saying that God's rod and staff pretty much support him.

When various Bible translations say, "Your rod and staff, they comfort me," I think something spiritual and well learned is lost in translation.

I think it helps to look at some of the root meanings of the translation "comfort," using Bible concordances.

Clues in concordances are a little strange, aren't they? Concordances bring forward feelings of sorrow, repentance, but also compassion or support.

So as an older man, possibly isolated in a wilderness, David is telling God that His rod and staff (in the unseen) have helped guide David's life, prodding him to go in God's direction, rescuing him from difficult places by a firm pull with the neck of the staff, and ultimately providing support for his steps in older age.

In a twist that's true elder-faith wisdom, David seems to be confessing to God that He has made him both sheep and Shepherd.

"Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28