Psalm 3 perfectly echoes Jeremiah’s situation in the First reading, where there are plots being hatched to shut his prophetic voice.
O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of me,
there is no help for him in God.
But thou, O Lord, art a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who have set themselves against me round about.
Arise, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For thou dost smite all my enemies on the cheek,
thou dost break the teeth of the wicked.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
thy blessing be upon thy people!
(Source: BibleGateway.com )
And is this not true of Jesus? In today’s Gospel reflection, Jesus is going ahead with the task of proclaiming and teaching. It is God who protects Him, and the very people who were sent to arrest Him, become witnesses to the truth Jesus was proclaiming.
The other thing that needs highlighting is that the people are gathered around Jesus and feeding on every word that He was speaking. Without the understanding that comes from the Bible about Jesus-God, we will never be able to engage God in a right spirit, right heart and right way. And when we do have these, and when we engage God in conversation/prayer, we will prayer and we will see the fruits of our prayer around us, physically. Then there will be no questions about who Jesus is, where He came from, where He went. Because we will have discovered God with Us! and next to us. We will not worry about foes, problems, insults, hardships, nor having anything… because with Jesus besides us – whom/what have I/we to fear. I/we will be singing Psalm 3 aloud, exulting in God’s presence.