Let us turn to God's Word and
I direct your attention once more to words that we find in
the 23rd Psalm. In Psalm 23 and reading verse
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. Last time we were considering
more especially the first part of the verse and the promise
that we have here of God's presence, the divine presence in the shadow
of death. through the value of the shadow
of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me and we remarked
how that the expression the shadow of death does bear a twofold
meaning certainly there is some reference here to that literal
death that is appointed unto all men and then the judgment
and we said last time out There is of course in scripture a threefold
aspect to death. There is that death that is spiritual
and then a death that is physical and ultimately there is an eternal
death. And with regards to the entrance
of sin as we have the history recorded in Genesis chapter 3.
We see quite clearly how God executed what he threatened if
Adam was to disobey. And to partake of that forbidden
fruit, God said, in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die, or dying thou shalt die. And there was an immediate
dying, there was an immediate death, that was spiritual death.
He came then into a state of alienation. He seeks to hide
himself from the presence of God. He's thrust out of the paradise
of God. There was a very real separation
because spiritual death had come into the soul of Adam and his
wife Eve. And it is in that condition of
spiritual death that we're all born into this world. We come
into the world as those who are dead in trespasses and in sins. But as there is that spiritual
death, so there is also a physical death, ultimately in Genesis
5 we see how Adam died, his years were fulfilled, and the day of
his physical death came, and that also was a separation, the
spirit returning to God, who gave it, even as the body returns
to the earth as it was. There is a separation between
body and soul. There's no such thing as soul
sleep. With regards to that repentant
thief upon the cross, Christ says today, shall thou be with
me in paradise, absent from the body, present with the Lord for
those who are believers but there is that separation that is death
when the soul departs from the body and of course for those
who know not the grace of our God in the Lord Jesus Christ
ultimately there will be that eternal death the great gulf
that is fixed between heaven and earth isn't it one of the
principle part of the torments of those who are the damned,
that forever they are cut off from all fellowship with God. And yet they were created in
God's image, they were made in God's likeness, they were to
have fellowship with Him and then to be eternally cut off
from the source of all true joy. There is that threefold death
then, or the shadow of death. What an awful shadow it is. And so we read in Hebrews 2 of
some who through fear of death are all their lifetime subject
to bondage. But it is the Lord Jesus Christ
who comes to deliver. As it says here in the verse,
I will fear no evil for thou art with me. He is in Christ
that One who has swallowed up death As we're told there at
the end of 1 Corinthians 15, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Thou art with me. All that's
blessing of the Divine Presence then. how it bears the child
of God through even the portals of death itself. But then also,
I said, with regards to this twofold understanding, we can
speak in terms of what we might say is an experimental death,
which is the portion of God's people in this world, is it not? There is the world, there is
Satan, there is indwelling sin, that the believer is forever
in conflict with, And at times the believer is in great distress
or in the midst of some affliction that brings darkness into his
soul. He knows what it is to be found
in heavy trials. These are as the shadow of death
as he has to wrestle on towards heaven. This is a lot of God's
people in the world, they have tribulation. Peter says, Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try
you as though some strange thing happened unto you? For there's
nothing strange. This has been the light of God's
children in every generation. They must walk through the valley
of the shadow of death as they find themselves in conflict with
that great adversary, Satan himself. Whereas they find themselves
being allured by this world and the ways of the world. If any
man loved the world, we're told the love of the Father is not
in him. But alas, there's that in our
hearts that loves the world. There's that indwelling sin.
There's that old nature. And oftentimes a believer then
feels himself to be walking in the shadow of death. But here
is the promise, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And so tonight I want to
center your attention more particularly on the words that we find at
the end of this fourth verse. Our text then is that last clause
in Psalm 23 and verse 4. Thy rods and thy staff, they
comfort me. Having spoken of the Divine Presence
last time then, we come now to the Divine Comfort. The Divine
Comfort. First of all, I want to try to explain what is represented
here in the Rods and the Star. Isn't this representative to
us of the Divine Persons? We know that it is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself who is the great shepherd of the sheep. And David, who was himself a
shepherd boy, opens the psalm of course with that familiar
and that comforting statement, the Lord is my shepherd. And Christ when he Ministers
here upon the earth, as we know, in John's Gospel declares there
in chapter 10, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd give
us his life for the sheep. And again he says, I am the Good
Shepherd and know mine and am known of mine. He is that one
who knows his sheep. because they were those that
were given to Him by the Father in the Eternal Covenant. They're
the ones that He came to save. And when He comes again as the
Great Judge, He will separate those sheep from the goats. He
knows His own, and His own also know Him. And now He has such
a gracious and tender care of them. That lovely figure that
we have in the prophecy of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 11 or verse 10 also
we could read. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 10 and
11, Behold the Lord God will come with strong hands and his
arm shall rule for him. Behold his reward is with him
and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young. O the Lord is my shepherd." We
see then that this psalm is in many ways a messianic psalm,
like so many of the psalms, the psalm that we read, Psalm 89,
which speaks of God's great covenant with David. Is that not really
messianic prophecy of David's greatest son, a prophecy of the
Lord Jesus Christ? Other psalms, Psalm 22, is clearly
a psalm that speaks to us of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ, or the words of the 110th psalm, also one that speaks to
us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we see here
in the words that we have as our text? Thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me. Let us think for a while about
the significance of the rod. The significance of the rod as
that that points us to Christ in the 110th Psalm that I just
said is messianic. We're told the Lord shall send
his rod out of Zion. The Lord sends his rod out of
Zion. That rod is none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. And there, in that psalm, we
are reminded, are we not, of his authority. The Lord shall
send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, roll thou in the
midst of thine enemies, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. And so just now as we sang in
the Metricle Psalm, we were singing praises to the Lord Jesus there
in the language of the Old Testament. It speaks to us of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when we think of the rod,
you see, we have to think in terms of the septum. and that
scepter speaks of his kingly office, does it not? Again, when
we consider the prophetic utterances concerning the Lord Jesus, he
is spoken of as a rod. Is he not there in Isaiah chapter
11? There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. Who is the Prophet speaking of? A rod out of Jesse's stem. Jesse, the father of David, of
course. And a branch, a branch that grows
out of Jesse's root. Who is this that's being spoken
of? Well, the way to interpret Scripture, of course, the best
way is to attend to what the old writers used to call the
analogy of faith. In other words, we let Scripture
interpret itself. We try to bring light on one
verse by turning to other verses. And in the book of the Prophet
Zechariah we read of the branch. In chapter 6 and verse 12, Behold
a man whose name is the branch. Again there in chapter 3 and
verse 8, God speaking to the Prophet says, My servant, the
branch, a branch out of the roots of Jesse, a stem, or a rod that
grows out of his stem. Who is this that's being spoken
of? He is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the offspring of David,
of whom Jesse, as I said, was the father. But then we read
something further do we not there in that 11th chapter in the book
of Isaiah besides those statements in the opening verse concerning
the right out of Jesse's stem and the branch out of his roots
in verse 10 it says in that day there shall be a root of Jesse
which shall stand for an ensign of the people to which shall
the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious." This is the
language of prophecy. And it is speaking again of the
Lord Jesus Christ, but now, not as one who is right out of Jesse's
stem, or a branch coming from Jesse's root. No, something quite
different in verse 10. He is spoken of as the roots
of Jessen. and standing as an ensign of
the people and he's clearly speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ because
he goes on to speak of how the Gentiles will be brought to seek
after him. These are references to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what do we see? Well, we
see that Christ is both the offspring of Jesse as we see it there in
the opening verse of Isaiah 11, but he is also the root of Jessel,
as it says there in verse 10. And so coming right through the
Scriptures to the book of the Revelation, and there in Revelation
chapter 22 and verse 16, it says, I am the root and offspring of
David. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the root of David and he is the offspring of David. A root is one thing. An offspring
is another thing. A root is that that is before. A branch is that that comes after. And so, in a sense, we have set
before us the two natures. of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the eternal Son of God. He is the root of Jesse, he is
the root of David. But he is also in the fullness
of the time, that One who is the Son of David. He is that
one who is spoken of then as a root out of the, a rod rather,
out of the stem of Jesse, and the branch growing out of Jesse's
root. It speaks there then of his human
nature, but also of his divine nature. Whose son? Whose son
is the Lord Jesus Christ? Remember those words that we
have at the end of Matthew chapter 22. where the Lord Jesus Christ
himself puts that question to the Pharisees. Right at the end
of that 22nd chapter, the last paragraph, while the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think
ye of Christ, whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of
David. He saith unto them, O then doth David in spirit call him
Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Set thou on my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The words of Psalm
110. If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son? No man was able to answer him
a word, neither does any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions. Oh, what is he speaking of there?
He's speaking of himself, he's speaking of his divine nature. Oh, they see him there in his
humiliation. They see him as a man, the one
who humbles himself. who takes upon him the form of
a servant. That's how they see him. He is
a man set before their eyes. But this man is none other than
true almighty God. And this, friends, this is the
gospel, is it not? When Paul writes to the church
at Rome and there in the very opening words of that remarkable
epistle gives a definition of the gospel. How does he define
it? It is concerning His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. This is the Gospel that Paul
says he was separated unto. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God, which
had promised to fall by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, as we've
seen, and then he defines it, it concerns his son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, and immediately he speaks of that great mystery,
the great mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the
flesh. And here I say, when we read
of the rod, thy rods and thy staff, they comfort me. Are we
not to think again in terms of that comfort that comes from
and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as a man. As a man,
how Christ is one who sympathizes with his people. How he understands
his people. because of his experiences, the
reality of his human nature. We have not a high priest, says
Paul, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. Oh, he knew what sore temptations
were. He knew what sore temptations
were, and we experienced these things. who in the days of his
flesh, when he had uttered up supplication and strung crying
and prayers unto God and was heard in that he feared, says
Paul, though he were a son, yet learned the obedience by the
things that he suffered. He is able to sympathize with
his people, he feels for them. Why? He hasn't taken upon Him
the nature of the angels, He's taken upon Him the seed of Abraham.
And for as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
He is likewise taken part of the same. All the comfort that
we find in the reality of that human nature, bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh, He understands us. As a man, He's able to sympathize
with His people. But as God, why the Lord Jesus
Christ is one who is strong, is one who is mighty to save,
able to save unto the uttermost. As I said, we have Him there,
of course, in that psalm that we read from Psalm 89. Verse 19, Then thou spakest in
vision to thy Holy One and said, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant,
with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy
shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict
him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague
them that hate him. For here is one who is mighty,
Here is one who is able to save and able to save to the uttermost. He has accomplished salvation,
has he not? He's accomplished salvation.
Salvation is that that he's finished. The Lord Jesus Christ has not
just made salvation a possibility. For there are those who speak
of his great work In terms of the possibility of
everyone being saved, when they talk about His universal atonement,
they say, why He's died for everyone, if they will but believe. Maybe
none will believe. Left to themselves, none would
ever believe. He has not just made salvation a possibility
for all men, He has accomplished a salvation and accomplished
it for that people that the Father gave to Him when He shed that
precious blood. He there and then finished the
transgression and made an end of sin with regards to His people.
And God has set His seal upon that work. God has raised Him
from the dead. And Paul tells us how he is able to save them
to the Ottomans that come unto God by Him. seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them he who died for them he intercedes
for them and as he makes plain there in his great high priestly
prayer in the 17th of John he doesn't pray for the world he
prays for those that the Father has given to him out of the world
oh he is mighty to save and he will accomplish the salvation
of his people and it was to that end of course that he became
a man a rod out of the roots of Jesse,
but a real man. Well, if the rod might be said
to represent to us the Lord Jesus Christ, what of the staff? Thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me, says David in the psalm,
why the staff He is the Holy Spirit who comes as the Spirit
of Christ. Here is comfort you see. The
rod, the staff, they comfort me it says. And this is one of
the blessed names that is given to the Holy Spirit is it not? Now the Lord Jesus Christ there
in those three chapters of John's Gospel 14 and 15 and 16 speak
so much of the Comforter. so much of the Comforter, another
Comforter that He may abide with you forever all this is the ministry
of the Holy Spirit that is also promised and you know the significance
of the word that's used in John's Gospel and which is rendered
in our authorized version as Comforter it's the word Paraclete
as it's transliterated into English and it means literally to call
to be beside another. And that's what the Spirit is
called to do, to be beside another. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rods and thy staff, they
comfort me. Do we not read of the dying Jacob,
how he worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff. He dies
leaning upon the top of his staff, it says there in Hebrews 11.21.
And how the believer is made to feel his complete, his utter
dependence on the gracious ministry of the Spirit. As Paul says writing
to the Ephesians, strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man. Well, we need to know the Blessed
Spirit as that One who is our Staff, the One upon whom we can
lean, as He comes to us, as He ministers to us. Do we not need
Him? We need Him as that One who is
the Spirit of Christ, who takes of the things of Christ and reveals
them to us. What would the Bible, the Book
of God, be without the Spirit? It was the Spirit, of course,
Himself who first gave the Word. Peter speaks of how those holy
men of God, those prophets of old, they spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God. But we need the Spirit who first
gave the Word to take the Word and bring the Word home to make
application to our souls, that He might be in us a living Word,
an implanted or an engrafted Word. that is able to save our
souls. We don't want it just before
our eyes on the page of Holy Scripture. We want to feel something
of it. We need the Spirit Himself to
come, the Spirit who gave the Scriptures, who gave us the Word
of Truth, the Spirit of Christ, who makes known the things of
Christ to us. who reveals Christ in us, the
Spirit of grace and of supplications, who enables us to pray aright. Left to ourselves we cannot pray,
cannot utter one word of real prayer, except we know that gracious
ministry and that enabling of the Holy Ghost Himself. Strengthened
with might by His Spirit, Indian man, here is the staff. Here
is the staff that we can lean upon and draw comfort from even
God, the Holy Ghost. And so, as we seek to understand
the psalm in that messianic sense, I say we can see Christ here. We see the spirit of Christ here.
But let us turn in the second place to consider something of
the purpose of the rod and the staff. What are these instruments
used for in the work of the shepherds? Well, they would be used to defend
the sheep, to drive away those animals that
might come and prey upon the sheep. Now, David certainly knew
something of this. He was a shepherd, was he not? And he knew what it was in caring
for his father's sheep to have to drive off those beasts of
prey. And in order to cause King Saul to understand
that he might yet go out against that great champion of the Philistines,
Goliath. He reminds the king, does David,
of some of his exploits when he was a shepherd boy. You know,
the chapter there in the 17th of the 1st book of Samuel, 1
Samuel chapter 17, We find David speaking to King
Saul. At verse 34, David says unto
Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion
and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out
after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. When he
rose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and
slew him thy servant slew both the lion and the bear and this
uncircumcised philistine that's how he refers to Goliath the
champion of the philistines this uncircumcised philistine shall
be as one of them seeing he hath defied the armies of the living
gods but David knew what he was you see to defend the sheep,
and these instruments would doubtless have been used in the course
of his shepherding. But besides defending the sheep,
the rod and the staff would also be necessary with regards to
discipline and correction, keeping the sheep in the right place,
as it were. And so we're reminded, are we
not, of what is the purpose of the rod. You know the purpose
of the rod. It's spoken of a great deal in the book of Proverbs. Time and again the wise man speaks
of the necessity of discipline, of chastening, the use of the
rod. Proverbs 13 and verse 24, He
that spareth his rod hates his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes, it says. Betimes is an old-fashioned word. It literally means he chastens
him in good time. He chastens him when it's necessary.
The man who loves his son, he doesn't spare his rod. He corrects
the child. And again, look at the language
that we have there in Proverbs 23. and verses 13 and 14 it says,
withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest
him with the rod he shall not die thou shalt beat him with
the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. The language
is very forceful, very striking. The necessity of the use of the
rod, it's that that is necessary to discipline. And God sees that
with regards to His children. And so sometimes He must take
out the rod and correct them and discipline them. We have
mentioned, as we've seen, of the way in which the sheep sometimes
are found in the green pastures. There in verse 2, He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. Sometimes though, when we're
in that favoured spot, the green pastures of the promises of the
word of God do we not there overindulge as it were and we can be pampering
our fleshly self if we are not careful He doesn't just bring
us into the green pastures, but we've considered how He leads
also in the paths of righteousness. But sometimes, even in those
paths of righteousness, may we not begin to be puffed up with
ourselves again. popped up with pride. And so
we see that in all of the different circumstances, all the various
situations of vicissitudes of life, there is from time to time
the need of correction. And the Apostle Paul knew that.
He was favoured. And he speaks, remember, in 2
Corinthians chapter 12 of that great favour that was granted
to him when he was caught up He says to the third heaven,
he was caught up to the very paradise of God and he saw those
things that it is not lawful for a man to speak of. Remarkable
things. He was greatly favored and blessed,
but he then recognizes that there's a danger. As I said, when we're
in the green pastures or in the paths of righteousness, And so
Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 7, lest I should
be exalted above measure. Oh, he was so blessed. Lest I
should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan, the buffetman. Lest I should be exalted above
measure. It's the same principle, is it
not? The thorn in the flesh, the chastening rod. How God at
times sees that it is so necessary to come and to deal with us and
to cross us and to go contrary to us. There are those things
that we might desire. And we think this is right for
us, this is surely what God wills for us. And then our own spirit
comes into it. And the Lord has to cross us
and frustrate us. Oh, this is the way of God. We
read there in that 89th Psalm of His dealings with His people,
then will I visit their transgression with the rod, it says, and their
iniquity with stripes. God deals with us, and He deals
with us by taking up His rod and laying the rod upon us, chastening
us. and it's a mark of sonship. Whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. What son is it whom the Father
chasteneth not? Here is the mark, you see, that
we're the children of God. We're not left to ourselves.
We're not left to ourselves and our own willful ways. No, it's
not pleasant when the child is chastened. It's painful. We don't
like it when we're little children. We learn something else about
it when we're adults and we have our own children and at times
we have to discipline them and it's painful to discipline the
child. We love the child. We don't want to see the child
saddened and grieved and afflicted. But we know it's for their good. No chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, says the Apostle, but grievous nevertheless
afterward. Oh, there's a nevertheless and
there's an afterwards. Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby. We have to be exercised in these
things. We're not to be at ease, you see. God will have us awake,
alert, understanding something of His dealings with us. This
is the way of God with the rod, is it not? Thy rod and thy staff,
says David, they comfort me. Remarking on the words of Exodus
17, Exodus 17, verse 3, following
where you remember Moses strikes the rock to bring water out of
the rock. In commenting on that, Sir Richard
Baker says, Could Moses with his rod fetch water out of a
rock? And shall not God with his rod
bring comfort out of trouble? Shall not God with his rod bring
comfort out of trouble? This is why we do well, you see,
to kiss the rod, or to kiss the sun. We have it here, do we not,
in the second psalm? Verse 9, God says concerning
his son, the one that he's spoken of in the previous verses thou
art my son this day have I begotten thee he says verse 9 thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel and then at the end in verse 12 it says
kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish out of the world
oh we're to kiss the son we're to kiss the rod we're to kiss
the rod Again, reading of Jonathan in 1st Samuel chapter 14. Remember that in his foolishness,
King Saul had forbidden that the people should take any refreshment.
And we're told how Jonathan's rod was dipped in honey. He dips his rod in honey. and
he puts the honey to his mouth and it refreshes him. Although
it's contrary to what his father has said. You see the rod is
dipped in honey, there's sweetness, sweetness in the rod. And certainly
sweetness in that rod that God applies to his children when
he deals with them in the way of corrections and the way of
discipline. The Lord's voice crieth unto
the sitter, the man of wisdom shall see thy name hear ye the
rod and who hath appointed it says the prophet Micah in Micah
chapter 6 and verse 9 the rod has a voice you see and it's
the Lord's voice and the man of wisdom why he sees God's name
in it it's God who's dealing with him Oh, friends, are we
those who are exercised in these things? We want to understand.
There is a mystery. We know there's a great mystery
in all the ways of the Lord, in His providential dealings
with us. There's a mystery in all these things. But are we
those who want to understand something of the ways of our
God, that we might truly enter into the experience of David
as he writes here in the psalm? concerning thy rod, he says,
and thy staff, they comfort me." Well, if the rod is used for
discipline, for correction, for chastening, what is the staff
used for? Well, it is necessary now in
the way of guiding and directing the sheep, is it not? Here is
the staff, it's there to lead them. Now I said, if we understand
the rod in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we understand
the staff in terms of the ministry of the Spirit, is He not the
Spirit who leads and directs the people of God? Paul tells
us, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. Who are we? Those who are clearly
led by the Spirit. Is it that staff guiding us,
directing us? So often we wander and we have
to be brought back. We have to be gathered again
under the care of that good shepherd. Now the shepherd would of course
use the crook on his staff in order to rescue the sheep. Such foolish creatures they are.
but he is watchful, he watches over them, and he cares for them,
and he restores them, and we need that, do we not? Or if we
know anything of ourselves, we know that we're all weak. We
have no innate strength or ability. All must come from God, all our
salvation, all that is necessary to that salvation. We don't have
some remarkable stock of the graces of the Spirit. We need
those graces to be freshly brought into our souls. We need that
faith that is of the operation of God and we need God to be
operating in the way of faith in our souls day by day and day
after that. So often those who are bent on
backsliding And we wander out of that narrow way, and the Lord
comes and He seeks us, does He not? How He seeks after those
foolish wandering sheep. And He uses His star in the way
of restoration. Again, there in that 11th chapter
of the book of the prophet, Isaiah chapter 11, It speaks of restoration. In verse 11, it shall come to
pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the
second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be
left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathos and from Cush
and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the
islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign
for the nations and shall assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
earth." It's the restoration of Israel that's being spoken
of. And of course, initially, historically, it's fulfilled
in the restoration from the Babylonian captivity. But it is speaking
of greater things than that deliverance. He's speaking, as we have observed
in the former part, clearly of the Lord Jesus Christ, a rod
out of the stem of Jesse and a branch growing out of his roots. And in that 10th verse, in that
day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people. And it's the same, you see, in
verse 11, it shall come to pass, in that day, that the Lord shall
set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of
his people. Oh, how God comes, you see, and
restores. How the Good Shepherd seeks after
his sheep and brings them back. And this is our comfort, you
see. We cannot keep ourselves. Now we have to learn that hard
lesson. We need to be kept. And kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, it says, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Or here is the purpose then of
the rod and of the staff, how the Good Shepherd uses these
instruments for the benefit and the profit of the sheep, be it
the rod, be it the staff. Or that we might be those friends
who are exercised by these things. who brought them to understand
something more of the loving kindness of the Lord. Might he be pleased tonight then
to bless to us his own word, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Amen.