Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:20

Genesis 16-17

Genesis 16

Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael

¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will build a family through her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

³ Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When Hagar saw that she had conceived, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I put my servant into your intimate embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May the Lord judge between me and you.”

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and Hagar ran from her presence.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?”

She said, “I am running from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her hands.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, so that they will not be countable because of their multitude.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her,

“You are with child and will bear a son.
You shall call him Ishmael,
because the Lord has heard your affliction.
¹² He will be like a wild donkey among men.
His hand will be against every man,
and every man’s hand against him.
He will live opposed to all of his brothers.”

¹³ She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I stayed alive after seeing him?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram gave the name, Ishmael, to his son, whom Hagar bore. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis 17

Abram Now Called Abraham

¹ When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. ² I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you greatly.”

³ Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, ⁴ “As for me, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and from you, I will make nations. Kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. ⁸ I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

Covenant of Circumcision

⁹ God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

¹² He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your offspring. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴ The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

Sarai Now Called Sarah

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is 100 years old? Will Sarah, who is 90 years old, give birth?” ¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”

¹⁹ God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife will bear you a son. You shall call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.”

Ishamael and Isaac Blessed

²⁰ “As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²² When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³ Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male among the men of Abraham’s house and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him.

²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Matthew 6

Charitable Giving

¹ “Be careful that you do not do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

² Therefore when you do charitable deeds, do not sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you do merciful deeds, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your merciful deeds may be in secret. Then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

The Lord’s Prayer

⁵ “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁷ In praying, do not use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.

⁹ Pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
¹⁰ Let your Kingdom come.
Let your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
¹³  Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the Kingdom, the power,
and the glory forever. Amen.’

¹⁴ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Fasting

¹⁶ “Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face ¹⁸ so that you are not seen by men to be fasting but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹ “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break in and steal, ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Lamp of the Body

²² “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Do not be Anxious

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor for your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ See the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much greater value than they?

²⁷ Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? ²⁸ Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith?

³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? How will we be clothed?’ ³² For pagans seek after all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own trouble is sufficient.”

Psalm 7

I Take Refuge in You

A meditation by David, which he sang to God, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

¹ Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me and deliver me,
² lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
ripping it in pieces while there is no one to deliver.
³ Lord, my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in my hands,
⁴ if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),
⁵ let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it.
Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth
and lay my glory in the dust.

Selah.

⁶ Arise, Lord, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
⁷ Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
⁸ The Lord administers judgment to the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness
and to my integrity that is in me.
⁹ Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

¹⁰ My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.

¹² If a man does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword.
He has bent and strung his bow.
¹³ He has prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴ The wicked one is pregnant with iniquity,
conceives mischief,
and gives birth to deception.
¹⁵ He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
¹⁶ The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
¹⁷ I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Proverbs 2:1-5

¹ My son, if you will receive my words
and store up my commandments within you,
² so as to turn your ear to wisdom
and apply your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for discernment
and lift up your voice for understanding;
⁴ if you seek her as silver
and search for her as for hidden treasures:
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

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