Knowing God by His Names: Our God is Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)

Who is the God you worship? That is a very important question. Are you abiding in fellowship with the living, powerful and personal God of Scriptures? Or are you worshiping a watered-down, inadequate, cultural wishy-washy? Wishy-washy is a term used to describe someone who is indecisive or will not take a firm stand on something.

ILLUS. A.W. Pink, in his book The Attributes of God, (originally published in 1930, and which has never gone out of print) he writes, "The 'god' of this ... century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Scripture than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The 'god' who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality."

Our concepts of God are frequently immature and tainted by the supposed wisdom of the world. Sometimes our ideas about God can even be affected by simple misunderstanding. ILLUS. When I was young boy going to Catechism class to prepare for my confirmation in the Catholic Church I learned that God was the Supreme "Bean." The nun who instructed our class was from down South. She did not talk like a mid-westerner. She was a “g”-dropper, and never fully pronounced the "ing" ending of anything, using instead a very nasal [n]. I realized years later that she was trying to teach us that God is the Supreme Being. But it came out "Bee-an." For years my mental image of God was of a great red Kidney bean. To this day I have a religious experience every time I sit down to a bowl of chili.

How do we discover who God is? On way, perhaps the best way, is to examine the names by which God reveals Himself in the Scriptures. Those names reveal something of His character and His nature.

This evening we come to know something about God from the Prophet Jeremiah.

I. OUR GOD IS JEHOVAH—TSIDKENU

1. last week we looked at the most commonly used name by which God reveals Himself

a. it’s the name Elohim and means the Supreme One

1) it is used over 2,500 times in the Old Testament, and is used to describe God as Creator and Sustainer of all that exists, and who, therefore, is Sovereign over all things

2. tonight we look at perhaps the least used name by which God reveals Himself, but one of the most significant names that goes to the heart of His nature and character

a. our God is the Lord Our Righteousness — Jehovah Tsidkenu

1) the name gives us a hint of wonderful things to come that will only be revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus

3. the name is used only twice — both times by the Prophet Jeremiah

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6, NASB95)

“‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 33:15–16, NASB95)

a. you’ll notice that the two passages are virtually the same except for the use of a different pronoun

1) in Jer. 23:5-6 it says he will be called The Lord our Righteousness

2) in Jer. 33:15-16 it says she (in some translations it) will be called The Lord our Righteousness

b. why the difference?

1) the she of Jer. 33:15-16 refers to the city of Jerusalem

2) as the holy city of the righteous King to come, Jerusalem itself is called by the King’s name

A. THE REASON BEHIND THE NAME

1. these passages are prophecy by the Prophet Jeremiah

a. when he utters them, the kingdom of Judah was about to fall

1) a century earlier the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been attacked, the capitol Samaria had been destroyed, and many of its citizens had gone into captivity

b. Judah had failed to learn the lesson

1) the nation was full of idolatry, oppression, violence, and priestly malpractice

2. Jeremiah now declares that Judah will also be attacked, the capitol Jerusalem will be destroyed, and most of the population will be taken captive into Babylon

a. but the promise is that a righteous Branch will rise up in Judah — a descendent of King David — who shall establish a kingdom and reign over the nation

1) in those days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely

b. the name of that righteous Branch will be called The Lord is our righteousness

B. THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME

1. Our God Is a Righteous God

“Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?” (Psalm 71:19, ESV)

”As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.” (Psalm 48:10, ESV)

“The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.” (Psalm 129:4, ESV)

a. the name reminds us that God will always do that which is right ... because He, Himself, is absolutely righteous

b. now, what does it mean to say that we have a righteous God?

1) the name Tsidkenu comes from the Hebrew root word tsedek which means straight or stiff and refers to walking in a straight path without deviating to the right or the left

2) it means that God always lives up to His own divine standards of behavior — He never walks a crooked path or deviates from His holiness

c. everything God does, He does is in harmony with His character

1) He is morally, and ethically and spiritually consistent

“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.” (Psalm 102:25–27, ESV)

2) this verse teaches us about the immutability of God ... immutability meaning God cannot and does not change ... He is as righteous today as He was before He created the world and on the day the world ends He will be as righteous then as He is now

2. Our God Is a God of Righteous Acts

“the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, ... .” (Judges 5:11, NIV84)

“Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”” (Genesis 18:25, ESV)

a. if God is righteous — and He is — then God must always act righteously

1) He will always do the right thing

b. when was the last time you rehearsed the righteous acts of the LORD in your life?

1) this is a God who speaks, and something exists where a moment before it did not

2) this is a God who commands and it stands fast

3) this is a God whose promises are true

4) this is a God who acts on the behalf of His people out of a heart of love

5) this is a God who acts and never says, “Oops”

c. the Scriptures contain numerous episodes of miracles performed by God for His people

1) those miracle are God’s righteous acts

ILLUS. The Hebrews often sang songs about God’s great acts. The very first is found in Deuteronomy 34 and is called the Song of Moses, and was delivered just before his death on Mount Nebo. It praises the faithfulness and power of the Lord. In the 5th chapter of the Book of Judges we find the Song of Deborah that rejoices in God’s act of deliverance. You can find 185 songs in the Bible — 80% are in the Book of Psalms and most praise God for His mighty acts.

3. Our God Is a God of Righteous Judgment

“All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.” (2 Thessalonians 1:5, NIV84)

a. as moral judge, God hates wickedness

1) evil is a stench in his nostrils

2) iniquity is an affront to His eyes

“You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” (Psalm 45:7, NIV84)

b. God's judgement upon the wicked is an expression of His inherent righteousness

1) I think one of the very worst things about hell will be the fact that everyone there will know that God was right and they deserve their fate

5. who is our God?

a. He is Jehovah-Tsidkenu — The Lord our Righteousness

II. JEHOVAH—TSIDKENU IS PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS ... WE ARE NOT

1. in the Book of Job, Bildad asks an ancient question that does not go away

a. in the last speech of Job’s comforters (we use the term hesitantly) Bildad speaks these words:

“Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? 4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”” (Job 25:1–6, ESV)

1) verses 1-3 sum up the greatness of God

2) verses 4-6 sum up the nothingness of man

2. God is righteous (we’ve pretty much established that)

a. the righteous standard to which God conforms is Himself

1) it is God’s own nature and will that determine what is right and wrong, and when Scripture affirms that God is righteous it assures us that God always conforms to himself – he faithfully adheres to his own perfections

b. He acts only and always according to the very highest principle of justice: Himself

c. it also means that His decrees, His statutes and His laws are perfectly righteous

1) the Old Testament Law reminds us that righteousness is that aspect of His nature which demands or requires righteousness of all His creatures

3. God is righteous, and we’re not, and since we are not the question is, Do we have any hope of having a righteousness of our own that will allow us into God’s presence?

a. the Scriptures are clear; we do not

1) there is nothing about our character or nature or ability that earns us any standing before God

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, ESV)

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)

“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”” (Romans 3:10–12, ESV)

b. we rarely, if ever, see our sin as seriously as does God

1) humans look at human behavior on a sliding scale — really, REALLY good conduct on one end of the scale and really, REALLY evil conduct at the other end of the scale

a) by nature men compare themselves according to other’s lives on that scale

2) on the really, REALLY good end are people like Francis of Assissi, Mother Teresa, Mister Rogers, and Billy Graham

3) on the really, REALLY bad end are people like Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Vladimir Putin

a) on the sliding scale it’s almost always possible to find someone worse than you

4) as long as we don’t find our behavior creeping toward the “evil” end of the scale we assume we’re OK, and trust that God will “look the other way” at our lesser discretions (because most Americans have a wishy-washy God)

c. God does not use a sliding scale, nor does He look the other way when it comes to sin

1) God has no sliding scale at all, but a rigid point — absolute and perfect righteousness

4. the Church does not do the world a favor when we “lighten-up” on the sinfulness of sin or minimize what sin is

a. when we excuse sin rather than own it, when we minimize sin rather than expose it, sinners will be reluctant in seeking genuine repentance

ILLUS. When the church, for whatever reason minimizes sin, it’s like a motorist knowing the bridge around the corner has been washed out and not stopping fellow motorists who blissfully go zooming by to their destruction

III. JESUS IS THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

1. our God provides a way of righteousness for his people

a. Jehovah-Tsidkenu is not only the Lord of Righteousness, but the Lord our Righteousness

b. that righteousness is not a righteousness of our own but is an imputed righteousness that come through the righteous Branch that the Prophet Isaiah prophesied of

A. JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUS BRANCH

1. God has, through the redemptive work of His son, provided for us that which we could never achieve on our own

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:” (Romans 3:21–22, ESV)

a. we worship a God who is righteous and who has provided a way for His righteousness to become our righteousness

b. it is the righteousness of Christ in us, which makes us acceptable unto God

2. theologian refer to it as the great exchange

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV)

a. through repentance and faith, our sin was imputed to Jesus on the cross where God’s wrath against our sin was poured out on His only begotten Son

ILLUS. Keity Getty got is right when he wrote in his hymn, “‘Til on that cross, as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied; For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live.”

ILLUS. The 16th century Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, said of this great exchange, “There can be no salvation without this exchange. We need a perfect record to be reconciled to God, and because of our sin, none of us has one. When we rest in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, we are clothed with His righteousness so that when God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin. Instead he sees the perfect righteousness of his Son. As we trust in Christ, God loves us as much as he loves his own Son because we have been covered by the righteousness of God's Son.”

b. through obedience and sacrifice, Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us so that God might see our lives covered by the blood by which he declares us “righteous”

ILLUS. God never alters the robe of righteousness to fit the man; He changes the man to fit the robe.

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10, ESV)

IV. RESPONDING TO JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU

1. our God is a righteous God

2. if you have been born again, you have the righteousness of God in you

3. since you have the righteousness of God in you, how should be live?

A. THE RIGHTEOUS SHOULD LIVE A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

1. in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness"

2. the righteousness that Jesus demanded involved a dramatic shift of focus

a. rather than seeing righteousness in terms of outward behavior, Jesus shifted the issue to within the human personality

b. righteousness involves motives and thoughts and desires

c. righteousness is not simply doing what God says, but actually being like Him

3. three steps to living righteously

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

a. 1st, Avoid things that cause temptation … Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts

1) what areas are particularly tempting for you?

2) in what areas are you are struggling to obey God?

3) what safeguards can you implement to help make it easier for you to stand strong in those areas?

b. 2nd, Pursue righteous living ... instead pursue righteous living, faithfulness and peace

“Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! 6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.” (Psalm 119:5–6, ESV)

1) we pursue righteous living by actively seeking out God’s will and instructions for living in His Word and actually obeying what it says

c. 3rd, Surround yourself with people that are pursuing Jesus the way you are … Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts

1) the kind of people you surround yourself with makes a huge difference in becoming the kind of person you want to be and achieving the goals you have for your life

a) and that’s true whether your 16 or 60

2) the same is true for your faith

a) you need to be part of an active community of believers who will encourage you and mentor you and hold you accountable for your life

“Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. 17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. 18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” (Isaiah 32:16–18, ESV)

Related Media

Related Sermons