Most everyone is familiar with these words of comfort from David’s Psalm 23. How do these implements differ? A rod is a weapon for defending oneself. A staff, which has a hooked top end, is used for guiding. A shepherd carried both with him to protect the sheep. You may have also heard of the biblical admonishment not to “spare the rod” when it comes to disciplining our children. Here, the term rod is used as a metaphor since we would rarely be defending ourselves from our children. Hopefully, striking a child would happen very rarely in a family and only for the most severe disrespect. But the meaning is clear – a child sometimes only learns a crucial lesson with a good spanking. In this manner, it almost acts like a staff in guiding a badly unruly child. Physical abuse is not OK in a family, but training is essential.