Rabbi Schneider - The Importance of Community
Baruch HaShem. We're continuing today in Psalm number 34. I began this series last week. I'm going to quickly just read the first three verses and we'll continue on today. "I will bless the Lord," David said, "at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord. The humble will hear it and rejoice". I covered those two verses in great detail last week. I really want to encourage you, go back and listen to it. It will encourage you. This is the word of God. And this is so powerful, such a deep mystery of how the Spirit of the Lord can fill our soul, can fill our belly, and that when we're walking in this reality of continually praising the Lord, blessing Him at all times, what happens is we're transformed into an experience of walking in the very joy of HaShem and in the center of His will.
Go back and listen to that episode, beloved ones. Then verse three, David said, "O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together". This is interesting, particularly in this generation, because now more than ever before, people say that they're spiritual, but they're not part of any organized body of believers. What we hear so often is this, "I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious. I hate religion. I despise religion. I don't like religion. I think religion's corrupt. I'm spiritual". And usually, what people mean when they say that is their religious fellowship consists of me, myself and I. They're not in fellowship with any other people that are seeking the Lord together with them. They're not coming together in any type of community to bless the Lord, to serve each other, to use their gifts. They're not growing in a community of believers. It's just they in their own personal walk with God.
But let me tell you, all the letters in the B'rit Chadashah, the New Testament, were not written to individuals. All Paul's letters, for the most part, they were written to groups of people, to the church at Ephesus, to the church at Philippi, to the church at Corinth. God calls us as a community. He said, "We're all members, one of another," and that each one is given a spiritual gift for the common good. Paul compares the body coming together to the members of the body, right? He said in your body, you've got an eye, you've got a hand, you've got a mouth. And the eye needs the hand and the hand needs the eye and the shoulders need the mouth. And it's all these different parts of the body coming together that make us whole. And Paul said that's the way it is when you develop your relationship with HaShem, with God. You have to come together with other people that know Him and love Him, because they have gifts that you need that you don't have. And you have gifts that they need that they don't have.
So it's only when we come together in fullness and in unity that we walk in wholeness. And so David says here, "Let us magnify the Lord together, O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together". David had such a special relationship with HaShem. The Lord said about David, "David was a man that was after Him with his whole heart". David truly had a passion for God. But David's relationship with God was not something that was just individual. He walked out his life of faith in the community of others that loved HaShem that loved his God. And the same is true for you and I. You see the B'rit Chadashah, the New Testament, teaches this, "Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as is the habit of some. But let us come together all the more, because the day of the Lord is coming quickly". It's getting closer and closer to the time of Yeshua's return. And we need to be ready. And one of the ways we get prepared is to be in fellowship with Him in the middle of a body, in the midst of other believers.
So I just want you to hear that today. There's many probably that are even listening to this broadcast right now. And you're healthy. There's no reason that you can't be fellowshipping in a local congregation, but you're just not. But I want to encourage you, beloved. It's important. David said, "Let us walk together on this". And this is the way the New Testament calls us, as the bride of Christ, the body of Messiah. We're all together in this. Let's continue on. David said in verse number four, "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears". I'm hoping it's touching you. Just reading it always touches me. This is one of my favorite psalms. Listen again. David said, "I sought the Lord and he answered me". Beloved, God is going to answer you.
Jesus said, "Everybody that seeks, finds. Everyone that knocks, the door is open". And to everyone that asks, Yeshua said, they're going to get a response. They're going to receive. "Everyone that asks," Jesus said, "will receive". James went on to say, he said, "You have not because you asked not". David said, "I sought the Lord and He answered me". I want to encourage you, as you keep talking to God, beloved ones, just keep talking to God. Talk to Him all day long. Talk to Him about how you're feeling. Talk to Him about your confusion. Thank Him for all the good things. Acknowledge His presence in your life. Be conscious of the fact that you have consciousness because He's giving you consciousness. In other words, thank Him for all the good things that He's already doing. The food that you're eating, that you could actually taste it and get enjoyment out of tasting it. I mean, that's a pleasure. God is the god of pleasure.
The only reason you're experiencing the pleasure of eating your food is because God, the God of pleasure, made you in His own image and gave you the ability to experience pleasure. When you look outside and you see something beautiful, whether it's the trees or the moon or the sun, the birds, a flower, whatever it is, give praise to HaShem. Acknowledge Him, talk to Him, but also share with Him your sorrow and your hurt and your confusion, even your doubt. Keep talking to the Lord because David said, "I sought the Lord and He answered me". And beloved ones, He's going to do the same for you and I. When you talk to God, I promise you, I assure you, He will answer you. But don't keep your mouth silent, keep knocking, keep asking, keep seeking. David had an experience. He could testify, "I sought Him and He answered me". How did He answer David? David says, "And He delivered me from all my fears".
I don't know about you. But I went through a time in my life, beginning from the age of 18, going for two years until Jesus appeared to me, that I was absolutely, totally in bondage to fear. I mean, we still have to battle fear. We live in a dangerous planet. There's all types of fears that we have to deal with. We have to fight fear daily. But I'm not talking about the way that I have to battle fear now. I'm talking about before I knew Yeshua, I was literally, consciously being oppressed by the devil. Even though as a Jewish person, I wasn't even taught about a devil, I could actually feel the presence of the devil. Even though I had no knowledge of him that came to me from my Jewish training, I was totally in bondage to fear, tormented. But you know what? As soon as Yeshua showed up in my bedroom and appeared to me supernaturally in 1978, 90% of that bondage, 90% of that fear broke off my life. David said, "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears". I just want to pray for you right now.
Father God, I thank You for the beloved ones of Yours that are watching this broadcast right now. For those under the sound of my voice, Lord, that are hearing the words of the Psalm of David. And Father, some I know are struggling right now. They're filled with hurt, with pain and sorrow and confusion. Many are feeling lost and directionless and empty. And many, I know, Father God, are being tormented in fear. And Father, I know that some are tormented by fears that are completely even illogical, or fears that are amplified way out of proportion to what the reality they're facing actually is. Father right now in Yeshua's name, I ask You to release Your holy angels and break fear off of the lives of Your children. In Jesus's name, beloved ones, I take authority over the fears that have been tormenting you. I take authority over the powers of darkness and over the demons that have been inflicting fear upon your life. And I break them off right now in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, according to the power of His word, His Spirit and His blood. Yeshua came to set you and I free. Amen. Baruch HaShem. Amen and amen.
You are free in Him. And I encourage you to continue to stand up in faith, to declare His praise from your mouth, to call out to Him. And you're going to find that more and more, you will be delivered from fear.
David continues in verse number five. They, meaning His godly ones, meaning His saints, meaning His chosen ones, meaning you and I. Listen to what David said. "They looked to Him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed". Again, we've got two different concepts that we want to focus on. There's so much in this psalm. First David says, "They looked. God's children, His saints, those that have been set apart unto Him, those who He has chosen out of the world to be His. They looked to Him and were radiant". Beloved, when you keep your eyes on HaShem, when you keep your eyes on God, when you keep focused on Jesus, you're going to have victory in your life. When you keep on fighting the battle, because we do have to overcome. Yeshua said seven times in the Book of Revelation chapters two and three, "He that overcomes will inherit these things. He'll inherit the paradise of God. He'll eat with Me in the garden".
You have to overcome. It's a process and it's a battle. But as you keep your eyes on Him and make Him first in your life, make overcoming first in your life, you know what? More and more you will become radiant. There is going to be a supernatural youth in you. There's going to be a light in you, radiating from you, that's going to literally be visible to the people around you. His Spirit will even give life to your flesh. You'll look different because of the joy of God. Do you know anybody or have you ever seen anybody, and when they're doing well in HaShem, when they're doing good in God, you can actually see the glory of God on them. I mean, physically, you see it. There's a light coming from them. You can actually see it with your natural eyes. But when you take that same individual and some days they're not doing well, maybe they're really tired or discouraged, they look totally different. It looks as if they aged 15 years. But all of a sudden, a week later, you see them again and they're radiating again with light and it looks like they're 15 years younger.
Why the difference? It's because of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit literally gives life to our mortal flesh. The New Testament teaches this beloved one. "If He that raised Yeshua, Jesus, from the dead dwells in you, He will give life to your mortal body". They see the Spirit of the Lord. He is real. He's a substance. It's not just an idea. He's real. You can't see Him with your eyes, but neither can you see gravity with your eyes. Neither can you see television waves or radio signals with your eyes. There's so much that we don't see with our eyes that's real. The Spirit of God, He's real, and He's substance. And the Bible says if He lives in you, if the Spirit that raised Jesus, Yeshua, from the dead lives in you, inside you, He is going to give life to your mortal body. You're going to be healthier. You're going to look younger. Your organs are going to be upheld in a way that's supernatural.
David said, "They looked to Him and were radiant," and then David went on to say, "and they will never be put to shame". Let's read it once again. Together. Verse number five, "They looked to Him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed". You know what this means? You will be victorious in your life. They will never be ashamed. I want you to know it doesn't matter what people say about you. It doesn't matter what your family thinks about you. Because many times, as Jesus said, a prophet is not without honor, except in his own family. Sometimes our family are our biggest critics. It doesn't matter what your family thinks about you. It doesn't matter what your employer thinks about you. It doesn't matter what your neighbor thinks of you.
If you're in school right now, it doesn't matter what the other students think about you. The truth about you is this. You will not be ashamed. At the end of the day, you're going to be the one to laugh. You are not going to be ashamed. The New Testament tells us everyone that sets their hope on Him will never be ashamed. You're going to be, at the end of the day, the one standing on the top of the mountain. I promise you that. The Bible says nothing can separate us from the love of God, neither height or depth, things past, things present, things to come, nor any created thing can ever separate you and I from the love of God. No matter what we face in life, beloved one, we are overwhelmingly conquerors.
You see the Bible tells us it has not yet appeared what we shall be like. When we see Him, we'll become like Him for we'll see Him as He is. And you are going to be glorified. You will not be put to shame. Jesus said to those that loved Him in the Book of Revelation that those that called themselves true God followers, but were not, and persecuted those that were. He said to those that were at the end of the day, they're going to bow down and know that I have loved you. You're going to stand on the top of the mountain. You're not going to be put to shame. There is a banner of victory over your life. You're a winner and you're a victor. The Bible says that you've been raised up with Messiah, in HaShem, and you're seated at the Father's right hand in heavenly places.
Even now, I want you to know who you are and what your destiny is. You're a winner. You're a child of Father God. You're born of His Spirit and you're destined to reign with Him. So David says, "They looked to Him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed". Then David continues on in the sixth verse. Hear the word of God with me. David, speaking of himself says this, "This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles". We're continuing along the same theme, but let's look at it from a slightly different angle. David said, "This poor man cried". It's interesting how David saw himself. Here's David Melech, the King of Israel, King David, and he described himself as this poor man. Notice his humility before his maker. He totally was clinging to God. This is one of the primary elements that's necessary and foundational in our life if we're going to ascend into the Lord's strength. We have to cling to Him. We have to recognize that without Him, we're going to fall.
I remember years ago, the Lord showed me that many of those that name His name are falling and failing oftentimes in life because they're not depending on Him and they're not clinging to Him. They're depending on their own ability. They're depending on their own strength. They're assuming that things are going to go well outside of Him. That's presumptuous. James said don't say you're going to do this tomorrow or that you're going to do that tomorrow, but rather say, if the Lord wills, you're going to do this tomorrow because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. David had that spirit of dependency. This is why Jesus said in the beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit". What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to recognize in and of ourselves, we have nothing. Jesus said, "It's the Spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing". This should be our attitude in life. We should be afraid of going forward another step without HaShem's help and presence in our life. Like Moses. When the Lord commissioned Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses said, "If you don't go with me, if you don't go with us, I'm not going to go".
Moses realized unless God was with him, he would fall on his face. So David cried, "This poor man". David recognized, unless God was with him, he was going to fail and he was going to fall. And that should be our attitude every day. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him. It's interesting that David linked his humility, this poor man, with God hearing him, because the scripture says that God resisteth the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I want to encourage you today. Continue to cling to God. We need to be afraid of moving forward in life without relying on God. As you and I continue to cultivate His presence in our life, keeping Him continually before us, constantly engaged in a silent communication with Him, we're going to find that we're going to bear much fruit, and we're going to see HaShem, we're going to see Father God, answering our prayers more and more and more. This is Rabbi Schneider saying I love you. Most important, God loves you and Shalom.