but he escaped from their power.
Jesus, there is nothing they can do to stop you from completing your mission. They are completely powerless. You lay your life down freely and no one takes it from you (cf. Joh. 10:18). They have no power over you at all except the power given from above, the power they are allowed to have (cf. Joh. 19:11).
You say:
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
Even when the hour of darkness arrives and you appear to be utterly defeated you say:
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
Jesus, we cannot imagine speaking words of praise and trust from the cross. But you call us to take up our crosses and follow you (cf. Mat. 16:24). Please teach us to have this same trust you have. The Father protects us from everything which keeps us from fulfilling our mission in this world. But that mission is the cross. We are not sheltered from evil just for a life of comfort and ease. We are protected so that we are free to give ourselves away in love.
How can we learn to trust you, LORD? We see the cross and move toward it reluctantly, begrudgingly, seeing in it defeat more than victory. We decide to do it but feel like we deserve a lot of pity for it. Instead we should move forward boldly, victoriously, in the power of your grace. All of the little moments when you protect us help us to trust you when you do call us to lay down our lives for our friends.
If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
After all we don't face the cross alone. "Praised be the LORD" we exclaim even from the cross. We exclaim it and somehow we are safe from our enemies. When we take up our cross with this attitude of praise we find that the yoke is easy and the burden is light. We bear our cross, yes, but when we bear it in your presence we find rest for our souls.
Jesus, you are God and yet you take on flesh. You are I AM yet you bear the cross. It is almost impossible to accept. Fortunately, the works you do vindicate you. We see all of the ways you might turn away from the cross. You could easily be an earthly king if you want. But that is not the goal. You are delivered at every moment before you hour comes. But you do not hide from the hour for which you come. Instead you say to the Father, "Glorify thy name!"
And many there began to believe in him.
Jesus, let us come to believe as well. May it penetrate from our heads to our hearts. Believing, let us come to trust in your protection in our own lives, our own struggles, and our own crosses.
In my distress I called upon the LORD
and cried out to my God;
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
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