Bible
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5. What did David mean when he said in the Psalms: “Thy rod and thy
staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4)? |
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He meant that the punishments that God inflicted on him, after all turned
out to be blessings and so they were welcome for they came from the hand of
God. |
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This concept – according to which the purpose of God’s punishments is
to do us good - is expressed in the following way by the author of Psalm 119:
“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. …. It is
good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. ….I know,
O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast
afflicted me” (Psalm 119:67,71,75). |
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It is confirmed also by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews when
he says: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews |
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However, it must be said also that God uses His rod and His staff
against our enemies when He avenges us, so that even in this case His rod and
His staff comfort us, for when we see or remember the punishments inflicted
by God on those who wrong and hurt us we are comforted and we feel relieved
for we realize that our case is before God and He is a righteous God. The
Psalmist said to God: “I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have
comforted myself” (Psalm 119:52). Amen. |