Rabbi Schneider - What Does Psalm 23 Mean to You Personally?

TOPICS: Psalms, Psalm 23, He Is All We Need

I want to address Psalm 23 today by looking at it as understanding that God is the source of everything in life that you and I will ever need.

So Father God, even as you place your hands through King Jesus on the loaves and the fish and multiplied them to supernaturally feed the thousands, I pray, Father, that as I minister to your people Psalm 23 today, that you'd place your hands on me and on this message, bless your people by your Holy Spirit, Father God, build our confidence and our understanding that truly, Father God, you're all we'll ever had need of from this day forward and for all eternity. It's the truth. We thank you, Father, in Jesus's name.

We're gonna begin then, verse number 1. I want to caution you, though before I begin, because we've heard it so many times, we run the danger of just kind of tuning it out. You know, I'm familiar with that. You've heard the saying that sometimes people hear something so many times it washes off their back like water off a duck's back. We can become sometimes too familiar with things. Things become too common to us and they lose their impact. So I just want to challenge you right now. Let's not just look at Psalm number 23 and anticipate that we're gonna receive something now that we already know because God is gonna do something fresh. God is gonna do something new.

I want you to shut off any perception of Psalm 23 that you may have had before, to receive the new Word today that the Lord wants to communicate to your heart through this God-inspired Psalm written by David, a man that knew God. Discover what David understood his God to be to him. Watch how David relates to God through the 23rd Psalm, because the same way that David knew God, as is revealed in the words of the 23rd Psalm, you can know God. So with that said, let's begin. David begins, he says, verse number 1: The Lord is my shepherd. Now this speaks of relationship. He didn't just say the Lord is a shepherd. He didn't even say the Lord is the shepherd. But he said the Lord is my shepherd.

David knew God personally and God wants us to take ahold of him personally. You've heard it before, if you were the only one that, on earth, Jesus would have still died just for you. The Lord is your shepherd. You know the Bible says blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who chose us in him before the foundation of the world and then predestined us to adoption as his sons. In other words, God's got a special call on your life. Jesus is your shepherd. In John, 10, Jesus said to those that were not believing in him, he said, you believe not because you're not my sheep. He said, my sheep hear my voice. My Father has given them to me. He's greater than all and no man will ever pluck them out of my hand for I give eternal life to them.

Jesus identified himself as the shepherd and he said he knew his sheep. And he said the sheep that were his were given to him by the Father. If you know Jesus today, if you love Jesus today, it's because you're one of God's sheep. Jesus died for you. He's your shepherd and he wants us to take ahold of that. It's not just that he just died for the entire world, he died for you. Jesus said, if you were of the world, the world would love you. But I chose you out of the world. Jesus said, you did not choose me but I chose you. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. And I want to encourage you right now to take ahold of Jesus as your own in a way that you have that's deeper, in a way, in a way that's deeper than you ever have before.

David continues here, he says: I shall not want. In other words, David was confident that God would meet his needs. He was confident that the Lord would supply to him everything that David would need throughout his life. David said again, I shall not want. He knew God as one that would supply everything that he would need throughout his life. Think of all the supernatural supplies that we saw God supply the Israelites, the manna from heaven, protection. I mean everything that you can think of, God was there to be it. The water came out of the rock. The Bible says that God will supply all our riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

Father God, I pray right now that you would increase our faith to believe in you as the God that will meet our needs, as the God that will supply. Father, it's one thing to read words on a page, but it's another thing, Father, to enter into the living reality of it and to believe it and to walk in the confidence of it. And so Father God, right now, I just declare that you will meet the need of your people, that you are the God of supply, that Father, even as David said, I shall not want, Father, even as Paul said in the New Testament, our God shall supply all our needs according to his riches and glory.

We confess, Father God, that you will, that you're faithful, that Father God, through our entire life you will supply that which we need. Father, your Word says, even when we're old and our hairs are grey, you will not forsake us. Father, whatever it is right now, whether it's money, whether it's a provision of any kind, whether it's relationship issues, Father God, whether it's body issues in terms of our health, we confess Lord, that you are the God of supernatural supply, that you are the God of abundance and that you meet all our needs according to riches and glory. Father, we declare it, we believe it, we stand on your Word, and we praise you for it. You are the God of supply and we say like David said, Father God, I shall not want. Father, we praise you for who you are in Jesus's name.

And then he continues. He says: He makes me lie down in green pastures. This is rest. You know Jesus said, learn of me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you shall find rest for your souls. David said here, He maketh me lie down in green pastures. Think of yourself, now just imagine, beloved one, for a second you lying down in a green pasture. That's a position, that's a posture of rest.

Father, we thank you today for rest. Jesus, thank you. You are a God of rest. Thank you, Jesus, that you promised us if we would learn of you and walk in your way, that we would find rest for our souls. Father, thank you that you are rest; and Father, right now in Jesus's name by the Holy Spirit, I release rest to your people. Jesus, you breathed on your disciples and you said, Shalom to them. You spoke rest, and wholeness, and peace to them. Jesus, we thank you that you are rest, and as we abide in you and trust in you, Jesus, that we also enter in to rest. We confess, Father, that these are just not words on a page to memorize, but these are eternal realities to be experienced. Father, I praise you today that you're a God of rest. And Father, I release rest right now in Jesus's name to your people. And I speak rest right now over your life, beloved one.

David continues here. He says: he leads me beside the quiet waters. So once again verse 2: He makes me lie down in green pastures, rest. And then David continues: He leads me beside the quiet waters. This is restoration. This is restoration, renewal and refreshment. You know, it's interesting that sheep will not drink from waters that are moving quickly. They're not able to. They can only drink from still waters. And this speaks to us of the fact that the Lord feeds us with what we can receive. He knows exactly what you need. He knows exactly where you're at. He knows exactly how to bring restoration and refreshment to you. What one person can receive, somebody else perhaps is not at that same place. They need something different. Regardless of where we're at as God's sheep, he leads us beside the quiet waters. In other words, he leads us to places that we can receive from him at.

Right now, Father God, I decree over your people, Father God, that you are everything that they need. And that Father, you told us to open our mouth wide and that you would fill it; that you lead us, Father God, to places and to people, Father God, and to sources that we can receive you in and from. Father, thank you that you're all these things, that you are sufficient, that Father God, we need no one but you. You can meet every need in our life. Father, we stand at it now and we thank you for it, and we praise you for it in Jesus's name.

Verse number 3, David continues: He restores my soul. Restoration, it speaks also of healing. He restores my soul. If you think of a soul that needs to be restored, this is a soul that needs to be healing. The Bible says if the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, that he would give life, healing, restoration to our mortal body. In other words, God's Spirit is a spirit of life. It's a Spirit that is himself healing. The Bible says he arises with healing in his wings. All we have to do is believe it to receive it.

It's like the woman we read about, beloved one, in the Gospel. The Bible said she had a hemorrhage. She had been, was bleeding for ten years. And none of the doctors could cure her. But she had faith. She said, if I can just take ahold of Jesus's garment, if I could just grab the fringe of his garment, if I could just take ahold of what we call in Hebrew the Tzitzit, I'll be able to receive my healing. And by faith she pressed through the crowd. This speaks of faith that presses through doubt. It presses through hindrance. It knows if I just touch him, I'm gonna be healed. She said, if I can just touch him I'll be restored. I'll be healed. My bleeding will stop.

And even though for ten years the doctors couldn't cure her, when she pressed through by faith, by a holy resolve, if I could just touch him I'll be healed. When she touched him, beloved, through her faith she received her healing. God is a healing God. He's a God, beloved, that heals. The Bible says concerning Jesus, in Matthew, 8:16 and 17 that when Jesus healed the people, he did it in fulfillment of Isaiah, 53. And in Isaiah, 53: 4 and 5, we read that not only did Jesus die for our sin, not only was he pierced through for our iniquity, but he was also, beloved, wounded. By his stripes we're healed.

In other words, when Jesus physically healed people, Matthew tells us he did it in fulfillment of Isaiah, 53:4-5. And in Isaiah, 53:4-5, we read of the crucifixion, that he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And by his scourging we are healed. And so what this tells us is that physical healing is in the atonement. In the same way that Jesus hung on the cross and was, and was crushed for our iniquities and our sin, and took our sin and sickness away, in the same way that that was happening on the cross, Matthew tells us and Isaiah tells us that by his wounding, by his scourging we are healed.

In other words, listen to me carefully, in Matthew, 8:16 and 17, Jesus is physically healing people. And Matthew tells us of this event, that he was physically healing them of their sickness and diseases. And then Matthew says there, this is in fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah. And when we go to the portion in Isaiah, Isaiah, 53, that Matthew was quoting from, it speaks of, get it now, the crucifixion. He was crushed for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our well-being fell up on him. And by his stripes you are healed. Healing is in the atonement. Your physical healing, your emotional healing, the healing of your soul of sin, and even the healing of your physical body is in the atonement and this is what Jesus was demonstrating when he healed all those that were being tormented by physical illnesses and by sickness.

And so Father God, right now in Jesus's name according to your Word, I speak, and I breathe, and I release healing, Jesus, on and into your people. And I declare your Word, Jesus, that by your stripes we are healed. And right now I say in Jesus's name, be healed. In Jesus's name, be healed. By his stripes you were healed. And Father, like the woman of old that said if I just touch him I'll be healed, we say yes, Jesus, we have been healed. By faith we've received it. It's done. It's accomplished. We thank you, Father God, that the same experience that David had with you, we all have with you now, that you are the God of restoration, and the God of healing. You are the God of sufficiency. Father, you are all we need. Everything we have is in you. All the riches and treasures, Father God, of our lives and needs are found in you, hallelujah and Amen.

David continues there in the 3rd verse, he says: He guides me in the paths of righteousness. He guides me, again we're looking at the fact that all we need is in God, that he leads us beside the still waters, that he's our shepherd, that he brings healing. Now David says, he leads me in paths of righteousness. I want you to consider this word, righteousness from a very simple yet profound perspective. Sometimes when we consider the word righteousness, we think of it strictly in terms of morality. In other words, we think of righteousness as a strictly sometimes moral quality. We say he's a righteous man. In other words, he does good and he refrains from evil.

And this certainly is part of the definition of righteousness. But I want to share with you another definition of righteousness that is also equally true. When someone is righteous they're simply, get it now, walking in the path that's right. If someone is righteous they're simply choosing what's right. Now this applies to a moral quality as we've described, but it also describes little decisions that we make. In other words, you have to determine, if you're a student right now, what college to go to. You know, there's a best answer for you. Jesus can lead you in the right decision. He can lead you in his path, get it now, of righteousness, okay.

If you're considering taking another job or if you're looking for a job, there's many, many options out there sometimes. How do you know which one's right? He leads me in paths of righteousness. He can lead you to make the right decision. I have all the time. Even many of the people that work with me, God supernaturally confirmed to them that coming to work with Discovering the Jewish Jesus was God's right path for their life. And so when we think of the fact that Jesus is our shepherd and he leads us in paths of righteousness, this is such a source of encouragement to know that the little decisions that we have to make every day, and sometimes we just don't know what the right way is. We have all these options. Jesus, thank you King Jesus, leads us in paths of righteousness. He leads us, hallelujah, to make the right decision. Isn't that awesome?

And of course, we all know that the Scripture tells us we have become the righteousness of God in Christ. Listen to this, we're the righteousness of God in Christ. Righteousness, beloved, is something that's legal, that Jesus because of his death on the cross, I'm speaking of righteousness from its moral perspective now. I'm speaking of it not in terms of leading us in the right decisions as I just did a moment ago, but I'm looking at righteousness now from a different perspective. You and I are the righteousness of God in Christ.

The Scripture says that he's been makes us righteousness, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ; that Jesus that knew no sin took our sin into his own body on the tree, and then he paid the penalty for that by being separated from God and dying in our place. When he took our sin, that means the sin is no longer in us and we now stand before God holy and righteous. It's a done fact. We are the righteousness of God in Christ. And God wants us to develop this confidence in him that Jesus took our sin, because if we feel ashamed and if we're covered with the spirit of shame, and condemnation, and guilt, you know what's gonna happen? We're not gonna be able to come before the Lord knowing that he loves us and we won't be able to receive from him.

So Father, right now in Jesus's name, I just declare according to your people, or Father God, according to your Word rather, that your people have become the righteousness of God before you because Christ Jesus took their sin in his own body on the tree. Father, your Word says that we are holy and righteous before you, that we're holy and accepted in you in the beloved in Christ Jesus. So Father, we declare...

I want you to stand up if you can right now. Just stand up if you're sitted, sitting. Just stand up if you can right now, if you're able and just say, I am the righteousness of God. Just stand up and say it.

Thank you, Jesus, that you have made me righteous. Thank you, Jesus, that there's no sin in me anymore 'cause you took my sin in your own body on the tree. And Jesus, because of that I am now righteous. And I want to thank you Jesus, that because of your stripes, I'm healed. I am well, spirit, soul, mind and body. We say, yes God. We say all the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ Jesus. We want to thank you, Jesus, that you are all we will ever need in life, that everything that we will ever have need of is ours in you. Father, thank you for that freedom, thank you for that confidence; Father, thank you for your love.