Preparing for the Third
Sunday after Pentecost

Year C

Prayer

Psalm 5:1-8

Trust in God for deliverance

Give ear to my words, O Lord;

give heed to my sighing.

Listen to the sound of my cry,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

evil will not sojourn with you.

The boastful will not stand before your eyes;

you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

will enter your house,

I will bow down toward your holy temple

in awe of you.

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies;

make your way straight before me.

1 Kings 20:1-22

An enemy threatens Ahab

King Ben-hadad of Aram gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria, laid siege to it, and attacked it. Then he sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel, and said to him: “Thus says Ben-hadad: Your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine.” The king of Israel answered, “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.” The messengers came again and said: “Thus says Ben-hadad: I sent to you, saying, ‘Deliver to me your silver and gold, your wives and children’; nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and lay hands on whatever pleases them, and take it away.”

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Look now! See how this man is seeking trouble; for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not refuse him.” Then all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.” So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king: All that you first demanded of your servant I will do; but this thing I cannot do.” The messengers left and brought him word again. Ben-hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will provide a handful for each of the people who follow me.” The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off.” When Ben-hadad heard this message—now he had been drinking with the kings in the booths—he said to his men, “Take your positions!” And they took their positions against the city.

Then a certain prophet came up to King Ahab of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Look, I will give it into your hand today; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the young men who serve the district governors.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” Then he mustered the young men who served the district governors, two hundred thirty-two; after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings allied with him. The young men who served the district governors went out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men have come out from Samaria.” He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

But these had already come out of the city: the young men who served the district governors, and the army that followed them. Each killed his man; the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. The king of Israel went out, attacked the horses and chariots, and defeated the Arameans with a great slaughter.

Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do; for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”

James 4:1-7

God gives grace to the humble

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.