Rabbi Schneider - What to Do When People Hurt Us

Let's pick right up now in verse number 5. David continued here and He said: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Once again, we're continuing. This is part 5 of the series. That's why I'm launching right into the middle today and David continues in verse 5 by saying: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Now what does this mean and how is it applicable to us today? Well David is talking here, beloved, about the victory that he experienced in his life. When God was preparing a table of plenty in front of David, in front of the eyes of his enemies, it symbolized that David was blessed with the life of victory.

Do you know in the Torah, in the Book of Deuteronomy, the Lord said something similar to Israel, when he said to Israel, if you will love me and keep my ways, he said, you're gonna be the head and not the tail. You're gonna be one that lends and you're not gonna be one that is depending on others for finances. You're gonna be blessed when you go in. You're gonna be blessed when you go out. You're gonna be above and not beneath. And God just went on and on and on about the victory that Israel would experience as long as they were leaning and clinging to God. We see the same thing in Israel's history that whenever they depended on God alone, they were victorious.

In other words, when they went into the battles that the Lord commanded them to go into, and they were completely dependent on him alone going into the battles, they always were victorious. But when they started trying to drive out the nations before them because they were pushing these nations in front of them out of the way to get into the Promised Land, and they were clearing out the Promised Land of the enemies that lived there, when they began to rely on things other than God alone to do the job, they started being defeated. When they started making allegiances, for example, with other armies, non-Israeli armies to help them fight, to beef up their forces, when they relied on the arm of the flesh, they lost. But whenever they put God first, when they were abiding in him, clinging to him, they always had victory.

And David is expressing the same type of victorious lifestyle when he was relying on God alone. David had already expressed in the Psalm that Jesus was his shepherd, that Jesus was his source of light, that Yeshua alone was what he was living for. And now he continues on the blessing that's to be experienced by those that are living this type of lifestyle; these that are seeking God first and his kingdom first. And he said, this blessing vows, he said, being victorious over your enemies.

Now we have to ask the question, who is our enemy? Well, often times when we start thinking about our enemies, the first thing we start thinking of are people. People in lives, that you know, did something wrong to us. People that we feel are standing in the way, people that might have harmed us in the past, etc. But you know, Paul said that our real enemy is not a flesh and blood enemy. It's a spirit. And when you and I are truly pushing in to know Jesus, when we are truly, beloved ones, seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness, when we are really seeking first the kingdom of God, learning about walking in the spirit, not according to the course of this world, but truly learning how to walk in the spirit, living in the supernatural, living by faith in God's Word, rather than by what we're seeing with our eyes, rather than by, you know, what we're reading in the newspaper, rather than by what the culture around us is telling us.

But we're really seeking God, putting him and his Word first, stepping out in faith to obey, making time to seek him, when we're really pressing in to this eternal reality of knowing Jesus, do you know what? The heavens are gonna part, powers of darkness that oppressed mankind are gonna be pushed aside. God's light is gonna break in and we are gonna experience a victorious life in Jesus, both by being renewed internally, day by day, through being engaged with him by the Holy Spirit. He is building us up on the inside and God is so good that we're gonna even see him entering in to our circumstances and putting our circumstances under the domain of the kingdom of God. He is gonna put our circumstances, beloved, in order and he's gonna put us at a table of plenty before the enemy; that we're gonna see those that have risen up against us both in the spirit world and in the visible world, beloved, that they're gonna be broken and that God is gonna lift us up and exalt us in him.

Now this is something that requires a lot of balance to understand, because we have to understand that many people that have sinned against us, they didn't realize fully what they were doing. And God has mercy on them just like when Jesus was on the cross, and he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And we also need to be practicing releasing blessing on our enemies because they don't know what we're doing. But I'm telling you this, at the end of the day, you're gonna be victorious over every one of your enemies. And even those who have sinned against you that God loves, they're gonna be brought to a place where they're gonna admit that what they did was wrong, if not in this world, certainly when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

And you're going to experience, even in this age, beloved, listen to me, a victorious life. You're gonna find yourself that God is gonna keep prospering you. You're gonna find that God is gonna keep blessing you. As you put him first, God's gonna give you victory. David expressed it by setting a table before him in the presence of his enemies. You're gonna see that as you keep putting God first, God is gonna keep on blessing you. God is gonna keep renewing you. You're gonna find yourself continually being transformed. You're gonna find more and more peace in him, more and more joy in him.

Those around you will not be able to deny that you have victory in your life because of your growing relationship with God, and because of the eternal, invisible nature of the kingdom that's at work inside of you. They're gonna see it in their own eyes by the way that you handle yourself, by the way that you speak, by the way that you handle your circumstances. They're not gonna be able to deny that there's something supernatural about your life. You're gonna be a sign and a wonder even to those that opposed you, even to those that you witness to that denied God. They're gonna be sitting at your table and they're not gonna be able to deny that there's something special going on in your life. Even if they won't be able to bring themselves to say that it's God, they're gonna admit that you've got victory in your life.

And it's gonna happen to every single one that has set their hope on God. The Lord said, he that sets their hope on me will not be disappointed. And beloved, when you're connected to Jesus, you're connected to victory, because Jesus is the victorious one. And his power is at work towards you and he lives inside you. When you're walking hand in hand with Jesus, you're gonna be living a life of overcoming victory. Greater is he that's in you than he who is in the world. We are more than conquerors through all these things. We are overcomers. Beloved, we are victorious in Jesus. And if we find that we're continually falling and continually failing, and that there's no fruit, we have to ask what is wrong, because Jesus is the conqueror and he lives in us. And his love has been commanded toward us.

David was experiencing this and so he said in verse number 5: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies". I want to encourage you today to start talking like a victor, to start talking like a winner, to start acting like a victorious one, because this is who you are according to God's Word. And unless you come into agreement with what God's Word says about you, you'll never come into the experience with it. There's many people that are "believers" but they don't have a confession of victory. They don't have a revelation that the one that has overcome the grave, that the one that has overcome death lives inside them. They haven't come into agreement by faith with God's Word that says neither things past, things present, things to come, nor any created thing can separate us from the love of God; that we are more than conquerors through all these things; that tribulation, persecution and trials cannot separate us from the love of God. But yet in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer.

We have to come into agreement with this truth that we are winners, that we're conquerors, that we cannot die, that we cannot lose because the one, beloved, that broke the power of death, the one that rose from the grave, the one that ascended through the heavens and is now seated at the Father's right hand, the one to whom every name bows to, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, that he lives in us, and that we're in relationship with him, and that he's holding on to our right hand by his right hand, and that because of that, we are victors with him. It's our destiny. The Bible says that we've been raised with him, in Ephesians 2, and are seated with him in the heavenly places. And so David declared here: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

And so I want to ask you right now, maybe you're one of those people that you, you know, you label yourself a Christian, and please forgive me, I don't mean to say that you're not a Christian, but I'm just simply saying that some of you out there, your confession isn't that of a Christian, because a Christian's confession, beloved one, is that of victory. The joy of the Lord is my strength. If you look at the life of the Apostle Paul, he didn't have a confession of depression, even though he was living in prison. He didn't have a confession of defeat, even though many people persecuted him and hated him. He had a confession of victory. He said I am more than a conqueror through all these things.

And so I want to challenge those of you that are watching right now, especially you depressed Christians. You were maybe brought up in a home where your mom was depressed, or your dad was depressed, or maybe they were both depressed. And now you've got this generational curse on you, this spirit of depression. We need to break it right now in Jesus's name. Unless you stand up, get into agreement with the Word of God by faith and by your confession through the blood of Jesus, this spirit of confession is gonna continue to oppress you. We need to agree with the Word. Like David said, God sets before us a table of victory in the presence of our enemies.

The Bible says again, you are more than a conqueror through all these things. So I want to ask those of you that have been depressed, that have been feeling weak, I want to ask you, you that have been, you know, struggling with timidity and fear, I want to ask you right now to stand up with me, stamp your feet, stamp your foot on the ground three times, one, two, three, and let's confess the Word of God.

I want to thank you, Father, that you have made me victorious in Jesus. You said that greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world, and that I have overcome the evil one. I want to thank you, Father, that I've been born again, that I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus, that old things have passed away, that all things have become new, that I am more than a conqueror through him that loved me, that I am destined to be seated with you in the heavenly places, that you have destined me for victory. I want to thank you that you have given me your strength, that the joy of the Lord is my strength.

I want to thank you with David, Father God, that you set before me a victory table, a table of plenty, even in the presence of my enemies. And I want to thank you, Father God, that all those that have risen up against me, both the accusers of the world of darkness, Satan who's the accuser of the brethren, as well as those that he's worked with in the flesh that have cursed me, and criticized me, and tried to get me down, and tried to put me under. I want to thank you, Father, that they cannot hold me down even as the grave couldn't hold Jesus down. And that I am a conqueror in you, Jesus, and I intend now to walk forward in victory from this day forward, in Jesus's name and every day, beloved one.

I want you to say something similar to that. Let your confession be one of victory and you're gonna find yourself ascending into a more victorious lifestyle as each season goes by. I'm not promising you a magic pill. I'm telling you that if you'll do this it will work. It may take some time. It's gonna take hard work. It's gonna take discipline. But if you begin to go on the offense against the enemy, you're gonna find his power broken off your life and you're gonna find yourself ascending over him. The power of Satan's gonna be crushed under you and you're gonna begin to declare like the Word says, that you have been made a victor in Jesus who rose through the heavens and now sits at the right hand of God, Amen and Amen.

And if we don't believe that, church, then we don't have revelation, because this is what the Word of God says. Well I hope this is encouraging you. I just want to encourage you today. I want to impart faith to you, and I speak faith to you right now. I speak the Word to you right now. Let's reach out, take ahold of it. Let's take it in our heart. Let's declare that we believe it. Let's begin to confess it, and things are gonna begin to change. Because when we believe God's Word with our heart, and then confess that Word by faith through our mouth, something happens. The Bible says if we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and then confess it with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we're saved. Something happens.

So through believing the Word and then confessing the Word, something will change in your life. They overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of their testimony. Agree with the Word. Don't speak your depression. Don't speak defeat. Don't speak fear. Don't speak the things of the world. Don't speak the things that others around you are speaking. Speak the Word of God if you want to ascend over the world around you. And you will, in Jesus's name, when you do it with faith. Praise the name of Jesus today.

And then David continues on, beloved one, in the 5th verse. He says: You have anointed my head with oil. Now this speaks of consecration because when we think of someone being anointed with oil in the Hebrew Bible, it speaks of one being set apart unto God. In other words, when Samuel anointed David king, he poured oil over him. Oil in Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of a pouring out of the Spirit on someone. And it speaks of separation and consecration. And so when David said, my head runneth over with oil, my... Let's read it again: You have anointed by head with oil; My cup overflows. David is speaking about the Holy Spirit that's been poured out on to his life, and he is, listen now, been set apart unto God.

I want to ask you a question. This is really critical if we're gonna get ahold of these other realities that we've been speaking of. Do you believe that you've been set apart unto God? You have to know that you've been set apart unto God. Jesus said, you did not choose me, in John. He said, I chose you. Get his again. Jesus said, you did not choose me but I chose you. Beloved, this speaks of consecration. This means that Jesus took us out of the world. He cut us out of the world and separated us unto himself. Jesus said, if you are of the world, the world would love you. But because I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you. This is consecration. Jesus chose us. He took us out of the world to be his own and to go and bear good fruit.

If you know that Jesus chose you, that you, that there's a destiny, a purpose, a call on your life, that God chose you before the foundation of the world, the Bible tells us in the Book of Ephesians, blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who chose us in him before the foundation of the world and pre-destined us to adoption as sons. When you know that you've been chosen by the Father, the Father said it, Jesus said it, Paul said it, when you know this, you're gonna have purpose in your life. You're gonna have identity in your life. And when you know who you are, so many of the things that you struggle with will be solved, because so much of feeling whole, beloved, and feeling complete involves knowing who we are. It involves, it involves identity and destiny.

And so when you realize that you've been chosen, that you've been consecrated; David said, his head has been anointed with oil. His head literally was anointed with oil. He literally was anointed with oil physically when he was anointed to be the king. And in addition to that, he was continually experiencing this consecration. And when you realize that you've been chosen by God, you won't settle. You won't settle to be like everybody else. You won't settle to think of yourself as just one of the many. You won't see yourself as common. But when you know you've been chosen, you'll have an identity.

And knowing that you were chosen by God, that God chose you out of the world, that God loves you, get this now, beloved friend, get this, that God loves you specifically, get this please. It's not just that God so loved the world, God loves you, listen to this, specifically, uniquely, get it, individually. He knows everything that's going on in your life right now. He knows everything that you've ever thought. He knows every emotion that you've ever felt. He knows exactly what decisions you need to make right now. He knows what you're struggling with and he loves you. God chose you out of the world, beloved one, to be his. And I right now speak over your life.

And Father, right now I declare that revelation of your love is breaking into these that are watching right now. And that Jesus, you are speaking to each one that's yours right now. And they are gaining greater insight and consciousness of the fact that you chose them specifically, individually and uniquely, that you love them on an individual basis, and that they're yours and consecrated to you. We belong to you, King Jesus and we love you forever, Amen.