MARCH 7

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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Psalm 1:5

“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

Psalm 1:6

“For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Isaiah 41:10

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Psalm 7:17

“I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”

Psalm 4:5

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord.”

Job 17:9

“Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”

Isaiah 42:6

“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,”

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Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

JEHOVAH – TZIDKENU

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Jeremiah 33:16

“In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”

The good news (or “gospel”) of Jesus begins with the pronouncement that humans are NOT RIGHT with God.  That sounds like the opposite of good news!  What are un-right (or unrighteous) people like us to do?  We are to call upon JEHOVAH-TZIDKENU, WHICH MEANS “THE Lord Our Righteousness.”

TZIDKENU is from the Hebrew word TSEDIK.  Which means “right, righteous, declared innocent.”  Simply put, righteousness is rightness – being and doing what is right.  Because God IS  righteousness itself, He ALWAYS DOES what is right.

Here’s how that truth (that God is our righteousness) makes a difference in our lives:  First, we can glory in God’s righteousness.

Because God only does what is right, we can trust Him to keep His word.  We can also count on Him to use His power to protect, strengthen, and bless us.  We can expect Him to deal rightly with evil.  In short, we can be confident that He will never do what is wrong.

Second, we trust that it is God’s righteousness that rescues us from our own UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.  Because God is pure righteousness, He can have nothing to do with sin (or unredeemed sinners.)  this would be a hopeless scenario if not for Jesus.

It is through Jesus’ work on the cross that we are made right with God.  By grace, Christ takes our sin; by faith, we receive His righteousness.  Because of HIS righteousness, we become right with God.  This doesn’t mean that we don’t still make mistakes.  Yet despite our failures, God sees us as righteous in Jesus.

That is the rest of the gospel.  Because none of us are automatically, naturally right with God, Jesus came and lived a righteous life.  Then He offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin.  Those who turn to Him in faith, in a real sense, lose their unrighteousness forever and gain His righteousness.

If you hate to be wrong and love to be right, know that you will never be less wrong or more right than when you are in Christ.

In what specific ways are you grateful for God’s righteousness?

PRAYER

JEHOVAH – TZIDKENU, You always do what is right.  Please help me to do the same, so that I might point others to the Lord My Righteousness.  Amen.

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