September 13, 2026 - Praying the Psalms in the Name of Jesus (1)Jesus, my Shepherd Psalm 23:1

Psalm 23 begins with David’s audacious confession that Yahweh, the God who made and sustains the universe, is not merely distant or national, but “my shepherd.” David’s personal claim, “I lack nothing,” rests on the character of the God who knows, leads, restores, protects, and provides for his sheep.

Jesus opens the Psalms as a place where his own person and work can be seen. Jesus says that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms all point to him, and the risen Christ opens minds to understand Scripture this way. The Psalms therefore become more than ancient poetry. They become fuel for prayer, worship, confession, and a fresh encounter with Jesus.

The practice of praying the Psalms calls for slow attention rather than checklist religion. A Psalm can be read, understood in its basic sense, searched for Jesus, turned into prayer, and condensed into an “arrow prayer” that keeps the heart focused through the day. The Holy Spirit can reveal more over time, even when a first reading feels unclear.

Jesus identifies himself as “the good shepherd,” and Ezekiel 34 gives substance to that claim. God promises that he himself will search for the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak. Jesus fulfills that promise by becoming flesh and shepherding people at their actual point of lack.

Zacchaeus pictures the lost person who has wandered into greed, compromise, and distance from the people of God. Jesus sees him up in the tree, calls him by name, comes into his life, and turns a man marked by taking into a man marked by generosity. The good shepherd still calls people home, including those who feel too compromised or unworthy to come near.

Peter pictures the stray who once walked closely with Jesus but collapsed in a moment of fear. Jesus recreates the charcoal-fire setting of Peter’s denial, receives Peter’s love three times, and restores both relationship and calling: “Feed my sheep.” The good shepherd does not simply forgive failure. He brings strays back into the authority and work they were called to carry.

The bleeding woman pictures the injured person whose pain has spread into isolation, fear, and shame. Jesus heals her body, then stops to call her “daughter” and sends her into peace and wholeness. The bent-over woman pictures weakness that has become controlling, almost like a spirit of infirmity. Jesus puts his hands on her, straightens her up, and shows that eighteen years of weakness do not require eighteen more years before restoration can begin.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus calls the lost home Zacchaeus had become a sellout in the eyes of his own people, yet Jesus saw more than the public record of his failure. Jesus called him by name and invited himself into the place Zacchaeus had hidden behind wealth and distance. The good shepherd seeks people before they know how to seek him. The call home also carries a purpose beyond rescue. [35:55]
• 2. Jesus restores strays to calling Peter’s denial did not erase Jesus’ knowledge of Peter’s love or Peter’s future. Jesus brought Peter back through an honest encounter with the place of failure, then returned him to the work of tending sheep. Restoration is not pretending the denial never happened. Restoration is forgiveness that reconnects a person to both relationship and responsibility. [41:26]
• 3. Jesus heals the whole injury The bleeding woman received physical healing the moment she touched Jesus, but Jesus did not let her disappear back into the crowd. Jesus drew out the whole truth because the wound had affected more than her body. His word “daughter” answered the isolation and shame that suffering had produced. His peace reaches into the full person. [46:54]
• 4. Jesus strengthens weakness at its root The bent-over woman carried weakness for eighteen years until it had shaped her posture and limited her life. Jesus showed that long-standing infirmity is not beyond his immediate touch. Weakness can become controlling when it is fed, feared, or spiritually exploited. The good shepherd lifts bowed heads and replaces controlling weakness with the strength of the Holy Spirit.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [12:38] - Fifty Days of Praying the Psalms
• [14:38] - Reading Psalms With Grace
• [15:48] - Finding Jesus in the Psalms
• [18:18] - Praying Psalms and Arrow Prayers
• [20:03] - Reading Psalm 23
• [21:30] - Yahweh Is My Shepherd
• [24:36] - Jesus in the Psalms
• [27:46] - Jesus the Good Shepherd
• [29:11] - God’s Promise in Ezekiel 34
• [32:34] - Zacchaeus and the Lost
• [37:06] - Peter and the Stray
• [43:38] - The Injured Woman Healed
• [48:29] - The Weak Woman Strengthened
• [52:12] - Responding to the Good Shepherd
• [54:10] - Prayer for Restoration

Bible Reading

Psalm 23:1–6

Verse 1: The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. [20:21]

Verse 2: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, [20:21]

Verse 3: he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. [20:21]

Verse 4: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [20:21]

Verse 5: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. [20:21]

Verse 6: Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. [20:21]

Ezekiel 34:11–16

Verse 11: For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. [29:11]

Verse 12: As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. [29:11]

Verse 13: I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. [29:11]

Verse 14: I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. [29:11]

Verse 15: I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. [29:52]

Verse 16: I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. [30:03]

John 10:11

Verse 11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” [27:46]

Luke 19:1–10

Verse 1: Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. [32:34]

Verse 2: A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. [32:34]

Verse 3: He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. [32:34]

Verse 4: So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. [34:34]

Verse 5: When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” [35:06]

Verse 6: So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. [35:06]

Verse 7: All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” [35:14]

Verse 8: But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” [36:37]

Verse 9: Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” [36:37]

Verse 10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” [32:58]

John 21:15–17

Verse 15: When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” [40:49]

Verse 16: Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” [41:02]

Verse 17: The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” [41:26]

Mark 5:25–34

Verse 25: And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [44:08]

Verse 26: She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. [45:08]

Verse 27: When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [45:26]

Verse 28: because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [45:26]

Verse 29: Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [45:40]

Verse 30: At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and