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.
The valley of the shadow of death. The "shadow of death," or the death-darkness, does not, as sometimes explained, imply that it is mere shadow, but is the Hebrew idiom for thee blackest darkness; hence, a position surrounded by great perils and deaths (Psalms 44:19; Job 24:17): also death itself in its gloomiest aspect (Job 10:21-22). Both senses hold good in this verse. In all dangers, and especially in the last and most trying of all-the dying hour-we, have stronger reason than David to "fear no evil." It is not his own fearlessness, but it is God's saving care of him, even at a season when that care might seem no longer available, which is the object of David's praise. The "yea" expresses 'even' in such an extremity. The darkness described is that of midnight, when, the beasts are abroad seeking their prey, The "valley" is mentioned on account of the wooded hills on either side, the coverts of wild beasts.
For thou art with me - present to faith, though not to sense.
Thy rod and thy staff. The "rod" was used by the owner in counting his sheep, which were said, therefore, to 'pass under the rod' (Leviticus 27:32). It cannot refer to the rod of affliction, for here "comfort," not chastening, is what is needed when passing through the darkness. He means, Thy making me to pass under the rod, thereby acknowledging me as thine, comforts me. How many in their dying moments have felt strong consolation in Christ's assurance, John 10:14; John 10:28-29! The rod is the assurance which Yahweh gives His child by His Spirit, that He counts him as His own. The "staff" is the emblem of support to the weak. So Jacob, Genesis 32:10. At the same time it is the shepherd's instrument of warding off beasts hostile to the sheep. So "David took his staff in his hand" in going against Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40); and the Lord is represented as 'lifting up His staff against' Assyria in behalf of His people (Isaiah 10:24). The Word of God is at once a prop to support the child of God, and a defense against Satan and the powers of darkness.
The third and crowning stage of the believer's history is the rich spiritual feast provided by God in heaven, of which even now a sweet foretaste is given.