Reflecting on the First
Sunday in Lent

Year B

Prayer

Psalm 77

Prayer for God to remember us

 

I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, that he may hear me.

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.

I think of God, and I moan;

I meditate, and my spirit faints.    Selah

You keep my eyelids from closing;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I consider the days of old,

and remember the years of long ago.

I commune with my heart in the night;

I meditate and search my spirit:

“Will the Lord spurn forever,

and never again be favorable?

Has his steadfast love ceased forever?

Are his promises at an end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”    Selah

And I say, “It is my grief

that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;

I will remember your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all your work,

and muse on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

you have displayed your might among the peoples.

With your strong arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.    Selah

When the waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

the very deep trembled.

The clouds poured out water;

the skies thundered;

your arrows flashed on every side.

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

your lightnings lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.

Your way was through the sea,

your path, through the mighty waters;

yet your footprints were unseen.

You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

 

Proverbs 30:1-9

Plea to be safe from temptation

 

Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,

I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?

Surely I am too stupid to be human;

I do not have human understanding.

I have not learned wisdom,

nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is the person’s name?

And what is the name of the person’s child?

Surely you know!

Every word of God proves true;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar.

Two things I ask of you;

do not deny them to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that I need,

or I shall be full, and deny you,

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or I shall be poor, and steal,

and profane the name of my God.

 

Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation

 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

 

‘One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

 

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

 

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

 

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

 

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

 

‘Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.’”

 

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.