The Lord our Righteousness

This divine name of God is well-known in our circles because of McCheyne’s hymn Jehovah Tsidkenu. The name itself is found in Jeremiah 23:5-6 where it is used in a prophecy of the Messiah indicating that this would be one of his titles. So from that point of view it is a name of Jesus in particular.

We would not be surprised to discover that God would call himself by the name ‘The Lord is righteous’. He always does what is right. The word ‘righteous’ means that which is straight, with no turns or twists. The paths of righteousness are clearly defined routes laid out by God in his Word. They describe what he would do and what he wants us to do. He cannot approve of anything that is imperfect. In Psalm 89:14, the author worships the sovereign God because the foundation of his throne is righteousness and justice.

In contrast to God, we are unrighteous because of our sinfulness as well as because of our sins. There is a slant away from God’s straight line in everything we think, say or do. The slant can be expressed in our motives as well as in what we do. For example, a person can tell the truth about a situation, but his motives for telling the truth could be wrong, which would mean that his telling of truth is unrighteous. Because of our sinfulness, all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isa. 64:6).

So how can we call God by the name ‘The Lord our righteousness’? The work of Jesus is the answer. He, a divine Person, lived a perfect life as a man, keeping God’s law perfectly as far his thoughts, words and deeds were concerned. Jesus did this for two reasons. First, he did so in order to offer up himself as a perfect sacrifice on the cross. Second, he did so as our representative in keeping the law so that his life of obedience would be reckoned as ours when we trusted in him for salvation.

In this wonderful name, we have the way and the wonder of how God gives sinners like us continuous acceptance in his presence. Our permanent attire before the righteous throne is the white robe of the righteousness of Jesus.