In verse 4, the promise in verse 3 is confirmed and given detail.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
As a kid, I always read this part to mean if I am in the valley of the shadow of death, implying that it wasn't a permanent condition. As I look at this verse today, from the perspective of a middle aged man, I realize that we are always in the shadow of death, both physically and spiritually. Our bodies can die at any time. We are subject to disease, accidents, random events, the evil machinations of other people, and any number of things that could lead to our deaths. As some have it, we begin to die the instant we are born. Physically, that isn't far from the truth. Spiritually, however, that isn't accurate.
Spiritually speaking, we are born dead, and remain so unless we are reborn in the spirit through the Grace of God. Ezekiel 37 gives an excellent description of this:
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. l And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and l cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
One of the very neat things about this passage is that it is an Old Testament reference to both the resurrection, and to Salvation through faith, not works. Too few Christians recognize how much the New Testament teachings rely on an Old Testament foundation.
So, Psalm 23 tells us we are always in the shadow of death, which means that God is always with us, and we have no need to fear evil.
Now the next bit of verse 4 is interesting because we are told how we know God is with us:
"Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Remember, I started this because I was asked about the difference between a rod and a staff? Well, we're finally going to find the answer.
Rod comes from the Hebrew word shebet, which is a stick used for beating or striking. Staff comes from the Hebrew word mish'enah which is a stick used for support. A shepherd would use both tools, the shebet for fighting off predators or managing the flock, and the mish'enah to support himself, or to guide the flock. The two sticks were of different sizes and performed two different functions. When we look at those functions in context of the rest of the psalm, what we see is an extension of the authority of the shepherd over his flock. The shebet is used to protect the flock from attackers, but also to correct or control the flock, while the mish'enah was used more to support and guide the flock. So what David is saying in this psalm is that whether God is using the shebet to correct us, or the mish'enah to guide us, we should be comforted, because in that correction or guidance is our proof that He is with us. It is when God stops correcting us that we should be fearful;.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
The final two verses paint a picture of the consequences of our obedience to God. If we accept him as our shepherd, we will be blessed even if surrounded by enemies. God will take care of us, and work everything that happens to us for the good. Many times, we interpret this to mean that only good things will happen to us as long as we follow God, but this is an overly simplistic view, and one that will discourage many from remaining faithful through hard times. Too many pastors, trying to build their congregations following the Purpose Driven model, fall into the trap of preaching prosperity as a result of faithfulness, and this is not what the Bible says. The reward for faithfulness is not physical prosperity, but the salvation of our souls and the promise that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's far more important than any amount of earthly wealth or comfort. God will protect us, but sometimes that protection will be in the form of the grace and strength to handle adversity with conviction and faith. John, the apostle Jesus loved, was exiled and eventually executed, as were all of the apostles, and Paul. None of them were rich or prosperous, despite living in faith and subservience to God.
But they all were wealthy in the only way that really matters; they dwell in the house of the Lord forever.