An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

Abram Inherits Canaan

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and ^(A)Lot with him, ^(B)to the ^[a]South. ^2 (C)Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went on his journey ^(D)from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the ^(E)place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram ^(F)called on the name of the Lord.

⁵ Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now ^(G)the land was not able to ^[b]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was ^(H)strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ^(I)The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^(A)had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^(B)northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see ^(C)I give to you and ^(D)your ^[a]descendants forever. ¹⁶ And ^(E)I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

^18 (F)Then Abram moved his tent, and went and ^(G)dwelt by ^[b]the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^(H)which are in Hebron, and built an ^(I)altar there to the Lord.

^2 (A)Beware of dogs, beware of ^(B)evil workers, ^(C)beware of the mutilation! ³ For we are ^(D)the circumcision, ^(E)who worship ^[a]God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ though ^(F)I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I ^(G)more so: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, ^(H)of the tribe of Benjamin, ^(I)a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, ^(J)a Pharisee; ⁶ concerning zeal, ^(K)persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

⁷ But ^(L)what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss ^(M)for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having ^(N)my own righteousness, which is from the law, but ^(O)that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the ^(P)power of His resurrection, and ^(Q)the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may ^(R)attain^[b] to the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing Toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already ^(S)attained,^[c] or am already ^(T)perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.