Psa 23:4 …Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (b)
He who has the rod and the staff in His hands is in charge. It is not the rod that matters, it is in whose hands that matters. It is not the rod that delivered the Israelites from Egypt, it is God represented by the rod that did it. They called it, “…the rod of God in his (Moses) hand” (Exo 4:20).
To cite Matthew Henry, “The gospel is called the rod of Christ’s strength (Psa 110:2), and there is enough in that to comfort the saints when they come to die, and underneath them are the everlasting arms.”
The Divine Shepherd is in control even in the valley. He is everywhere, “1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. … 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Psa 139:1-12). By His word He is our comfort.