1 Kingdoms 8:1-10:16
1 Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 And these were the names of his sons: the firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
4 Then all the men of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you have become old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now establish a king for us to judge us like all the rest of the nations.” 6 But this was evil in the eyes of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in whatever they might say to you, for they have not rejected you, but rather they have rejected Me, to bring to naught My reign over them. 8 In everything they did to Me since the day I brought them up from Egypt, even to this day, they have forsaken Me and have served other gods. So too they are doing this to you. 9 Now listen to their voice; only you shall testify solemnly to them and announce to them the custom of the king who will reign over them.”
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the custom of the king who shall reign over you. He will take your sons and put them in his chariots, and among his horsemen, and running before his chariots; 12 and for himself, he will appoint them as captains over his thousands, and captains over his hundreds; and to harvest his crop and gather his vintage; and to make his weapons of war and instruments for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to his eunuchs and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest cattle, and your donkeys, and take a tenth of them for his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 Then in that day you will cry out before your king whom you chose for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in those days, because you chose a king for yourselves.”
19 But the people were unwilling to listen to Samuel; and they said to him, “No, rather it is that we want a king to be over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, and our king will judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people and repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22 So the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Let every man go to his city.”
Saul to Be the King
1 There was a man from the sons of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of power. 2 And he had a tall and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was no more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. He was a head taller than anyone else in the land.
3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” 4 So they passed through the mountain of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. 5 When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and become worried about us.”
6 And the servant said to him, “Look now, in this city there is a man of God, and he is an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. So now let us go there; perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 7 Then Saul said to his servants who were with him, “But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man of God? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no more that belongs to us to bring to the man of God.” 8 And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here in my hand one fourth of a shekel of silver. Give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 9 Before this time in Israel, every one who went to inquire of God said, “Come, let us go up to the seer,” for the people previously called the prophet the seer.
10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said! Come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. 11 As they went up the hill to the city, they found some young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12 And the young women answered them and said, “Look! He is just ahead of you. He is here now on account of the day; he has come into the city today because there is a sacrifice for the people on the high place. 13 As soon as you enter the city, you will surely find him there before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, for he blesses the sacrifice, and afterward the guests will eat. Now go up, for about this time you will find him.” 14 So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the midst of the city, there was Samuel coming out to meet them on his way up to the high place.
15 Now the day before Saul arrived, the Lord revealed to the ear of Samuel, saying, 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel. He will save My people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have looked upon the humiliation of My people, because their cry has come to Me.” 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall rule over My people.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the midst of the city, and said, “Please tell me, where is the seer’s house?” 19 And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am he. Go up before me to the high place and eat with me today, and in the morning before I send you forth, I will tell you all that is in your heart. 20 But as for your donkeys lost three days ago, do not let your heart be anxious about them, for they have been found. And to whom is the beauty of Israel? Is it not on you and on your father’s house?” 21 Then Saul answered and said, “Am I not a son of Benjamin, of the smallest branch of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the tribe of the branch of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”
22 Now Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and he set a place for them among the chief of those who were called—about seventy men. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you which I told you to set beside you.” 24 So the cook lifted up the thigh and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said to Saul, “Behold! A remnant is set before you. Eat, because it is placed in front of you as a testimony to the others. Take of it.” And on that day, Saul ate with Samuel. 25 When they had come down from the high place into the city, they spread a bed for Saul on the housetop. 26 He slept.
Saul Anointed King of Israel
As the morning dawned, Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, “Rise up, that I may send you on your way.” And Saul arose, and he and Samuel went outside. 27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us. But you stand here today, and give heed to the word of God.”
1 Then Samuel took a vial of olive oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said to him, “Has not the Lord anointed you as ruler to His people, over Israel? You shall rule among the people of the Lord, and you shall save them from the hand of their enemies round about them. For you, this shall be the sign that the Lord anointed you as a ruler for His inheritance. 2 As you depart from me today, you shall come to find two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin who are jumping about ecstatically, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys you searched for are found, but take notice, your father stopped worrying about news concerning the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?’ ” 3 Then you shall go on from there and come to the oak tree of Tabor. There you will find three men going up to God at Bethel, one carrying three young goats, one carrying three containers of bread, and one carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will entreat you in peace and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall take from their hands. 5 After this, you shall come to the hill of God, which for the Philistines is the high place there. The Philistine Nasib is located there. And when you enter the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them. They will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you shall prophesy with them, and you shall be turned into another man. 7 And when these signs shall come to pass for you, do all the many things your hand finds to do, because God is with you. 8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal, and I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. You shall wait for seven days, till I come to you and show you what to do.”
9 So it came about that when he turned his back to depart from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all the signs came to pass on that day. 10 And he came there to the hill, and behold there was a band of prophets opposite him, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them. 11 It came about that all those who had seen him previously saw it, and behold, he was in the midst of the prophets. And the people said, each one to his neighbor, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 Then one of them answered and said, “But who is his father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Truly, even Saul is among the prophets.” 13 And he finished prophesying and came to the hill. 14 Then his kinsman said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” So he said, “To look for the donkeys. We saw they were lost; we went to Samuel.” 15 And the kinsman said to Saul, “What did Samuel say to you?” 16 So Saul said to his kinsman, “In his explaining, he told me the donkeys were found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom.
Psalm 80
1 For the End; concerning the winepresses; a psalm for Asaph.
2 Rejoice in God our helper;
Rejoice greatly in the living God.
3 Take up a psalm and sound a timbrel,
a pleasant psaltery with a harp;
4 Sound a trumpet in the new moon
On this honorable day of our feast;
5 For this is an ordinance for Israel
And a judgment by the God of Jacob.
6 He made it a testimony in Joseph
When he went out from the land of Egypt;
He heard a tongue he knew not;
7 He removed his back from forced labors;
His hands served in the basket.
8 You called upon Me in affliction, and I delivered you;
I heard you in the secret place of the storm;
I tested you at the water of Rebellion.
(Pause)
9 Listen, O My people, for I testify to you;
Listen, O Israel, if you hear Me:
10 There shall be no new god among you,
Nor shall you worship an alien god;
11 I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
12 But My people did not hear My voice,
And Israel would pay no attention to Me.
13 And I sent them away because of the desires in their hearts;
They shall walk in their ways of living.
14 If My people had heard Me,
If Israel had walked in My ways,
15 I would have humbled their enemies quickly;
And I would have laid My hand on those oppressing them.
16 The Lord’s enemies lied to Him,
And their time shall be forever.
17 He fed them with the finest of wheat
And satisfied them with honey from the rock.
Proverbs 17:6–10
6 The crown of old men is children of children,
And the boasting of children is their fathers.
7 The entire world of goods belongs to the faithful,
But to the faithless, not even a penny.
8 Faithful lips will not adapt to a man without discernment,
Nor lying lips to a righteous man.
9 Instruction awards benefits to those using it,
And wherever it turns, it prospers them.
10 He who hides wrongdoings seeks love,
But he who hates to cover them will separate friends and close relatives.
Luke 9:1–17
1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
5 “And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Herod Seeks to See Jesus
(Matt. 14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29)
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.
9 Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” So he sought to see Him.
Feeding the Five Thousand
(Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; John 6:1–15)
10 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”
13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.
I always pray for my sick relatives. What is the name of the Saint who said not to pray for our own wellness as it will cling to us? Does this apply to my relatives?
This was a quote from St Porphyrios. The quote was about our motivation for prayer. His concern was that some may only love God or pray to God for what God can give to them.
St Porphyrios often prayed for the health of others. As a priest he prayed for “mercy, life, peace, health, salvation and visitation and pardon and remission of sins.” He led unction services for the health of others. He prayed for countless people. At the same time, he wants us to love God first. And loving God also means trusting God. We can pray for healing but we must not cling to it. I think the Lord’s example is most appropriate. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was taken prisoner, he prayed that the “cup” of his passion would be removed.
Matthew 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
You see, Jesus prayed about it but did not cling to it. He was willing to submit his Human will to the Divine will. We can pray for anything, including health for ourselves and others, but we must also trust in the Lord that all will be right.