Psalm 27

A song of David.

13 Abram left Egypt with his wife, Lot, and everything he owned, and he went back up into the Negev region. ² Because of his experience in Egypt, Abram had become quite rich. He had livestock, silver, and gold to carry with him. ³ He journeyed north in stages from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where he had pitched his tent earlier between Bethel and Ai. ⁴ He returned to one of the first altar tables he had made in the land, stopped there, and called on the name of the Eternal once again. ⁵ Lot, who had gone with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so the land was no longer large enough to support the two of them living together as one household. They each had so many possessions that they just couldn’t stay together any longer. ⁷ Arguments erupted between Abram’s and Lot’s livestock herders as they tried to graze their flocks side-by-side. (During this time, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living on this land too.)

¹⁴ After Lot had moved away, the Eternal spoke to Abram.

¹⁸ So Abram moved his family and belongings again, this time to Hebron, settling near the oaks of Mamre. Abram built yet another altar table to the Eternal here in this new place.

² Watch out for the dogs—wicked workers who run in packs looking for someone to maul with their false circumcision.

³ We are the true circumcision—those who worship God in Spirit and make our boast in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King—so we do not rely on what we have accomplished in the flesh.

⁴ If any try to throw around their pedigrees to you, remember my résumé—which is more impressive than theirs. ⁵ I was circumcised on the eighth day—as the law prescribes—born of the nation of Israel, descended from the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew born of Hebrews; I have observed the law according to the strict piety of the Pharisees, separate from those embracing a less rigorous kind of Judaism. ⁶ Zealous? Yes. I ruthlessly pursued and persecuted the church. And when it comes to the righteousness required by the law, my record is spotless.

⁷ But whatever I used to count as my greatest accomplishments, I’ve written them off as a loss because of the Anointed One. ⁸ And more so, I now realize that all I gained and thought was important was nothing but yesterday’s garbage compared to knowing the Anointed Jesus my Lord. For Him I have thrown everything aside—it’s nothing but a pile of waste—so that I may gain Him. ⁹ When it counts, I want to be found belonging to Him, not clinging to my own righteousness based on law, but actively relying on the faithfulness of the Anointed One. This is true righteousness, supplied by God, acquired by faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Him inside and out. I want to experience the power of His resurrection and join in His suffering, shaped by His death, ¹¹ so that I may arrive safely at the resurrection from the dead.

¹² I’m not there yet, nor have I become perfect; but I am charging on to gain anything and everything the Anointed One, Jesus, has in store for me—and nothing will stand in my way because He has grabbed me and won’t let me go.